Depleted Suns Shock Warriors in Huge Road Win
The Phoenix Suns only had nine available players tonight, with a plethora of weapons out of action. Not available were six of their top seven scorers on the season.
You wouldn't know it by looking at the final score.
The Suns began the first of a four-game road trip with a 125-113 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
The Warriors welcomed back Steph Curry (shoulder) after he missed the previous 11 games, who had a less than stellar night shooting with 24 points on 8-22 shooting. Klay Thompson paced Golden State with 29 of his own.
Having lost their prior six games, Phoenix was able to get back to .500 without names such as Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Cam Johnson, Cam Payne or Landry Shamet available.
Their 125 points tied the most in a game for Phoenix since Dec. 27.
In his return to Golden State, Damion Lee helped the Suns with 22 points and seven rebounds. Torrey Craig notched a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Five Suns finished with 12 points or more.
The Suns carried a 31-26 lead after one quarter of play, going on a 10-0 run before the second quarter began. By halftime, Phoenix led 59-45 at halftime. That was Golden State's second-largest home halftime deficit on the season.
The Suns led by as much as 27 at one point in the night. The Warriors - true to their nature - fought back and drew the lead down to as much as six in the final minutes of the game.
Phoenix shot themselves in the foot with 13 turnovers in the fourth quarter before eventually pulling away by hitting clutch free throws down the stretch (they finished 29-31 on the night).
Andre Iguodala was ejected with 4:30 left for tossing the ball into the stands out of frustration.
Phoenix will play the second night of a back-to-back tomorrow in Denver against a Nuggets team that is tied for the best record in the West.
