Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to Suns: Where Blame Should Lie for Last-Second Foul

The Golden State Warriors fell to 5-10 in clutch games against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, and this one was particularly deflating.

The Warriors (13-15) rallied from a five-point deficit with 40 seconds to go to the tie game, only to commit a foul with under a second to go. Jordan Goodwin made one of the free throws, giving the Suns (15-12) a 99-98 victory.

Jimmy Butler had a game-high 31 points, while Devin Booker had 23 of his team-high 25 points in the second half.

Here are three takeaways from another brutal loss.

Game-Losing Foul Is a Microcosm of Personnel Issues

Stephen Curry tied the game with two free throws with 21.7 seconds left, and the Suns called timeout immediately after, allowing the Warriors to choose their best five-man defensive unit to get one stop to send the game to overtime.

The Warriors went with Butler, Draymond Green, De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II and Moses Moody.

So their tallest player on the floor was Green at 6'6".

The Warriors defended the play well, first doubling Booker and then contesting a deep three from Dillon Brooks that hit all backboard. The issue was they had Payton, 6'2", in the most valuable rebounding position, which is the weakside block.

Goodwin got behind Moody. Payton was battling the much taller Royce O'Neale (6'6") and had no chance at what would normally be a pretty easy rebound for a traditional center.

Moody deserves blame for letting Goodwin get behind him, but just think about how bad a team's roster construction has to be that it doesn't have one player over 6'6" who it can trust to play to get one stop.

The Warriors entered Thursday with a 43.4 percent rebounding rate in clutch games. That's fifth-worst rate in the league. They are practically begging teams to beat them with offensive rebounds, and that's what happened Thursday.

It also happened when 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe got a putback with under one second to go to beat Golden State two weeks ago. He was being guarded by Pat Spencer (6'2"), who probably should have been taken away off the floor for the final defensive possession.

Or maybe there's no combination of Warriors players capable of getting that key rebound. It's just a major personnel issue.

Green's Turnovers Continue to Kill the Team

The Warriors had 20 turnovers, so I could just as easily change this subhead to "turnovers are killing the team." But I'm singling out Green again because a) he had five and b) they really are some of the most back-breaking giveaways you can have.

Green re-entered the game with 3:33 to go, and on his first offensive touch, he tried to force the ball to Curry. Collin Gillespie easily stole the ball and that led to two Booker free throws. That extended the Suns' lead to five and essentially felt like the decisive blow, though this time the Warriors came back.

In the third quarter, Green attempted a lob to Butler that missed him by several feet. Green was unguarded at the time. Just totally unforced.

In the first quarter, Green telegraphed a pass to Moody that was easily stolen. Later in the quarter, he tried an unplanned pick-and-roll with Trayce Jackson-Davis, and his pass to TJD was thrown 100 mph from a few feet away. TJD couldn't handle it, and I'm guessing no one could've.

Green entered Thursday tied for the third-worst rate of turnovers per 36 minutes in the NBA.

Considering how infrequently Green is asked to score or create off the dribble, it's unacceptable that he has one of the highest turnover rates in the league.

Butler Didn't Get Enough Touches Down the Stretch

The people wanted Butler to be more aggressive, so Butler was more aggressive.

He had 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting, and frankly the Warriors probably should have gone to him even more.

After taking an 87-86 lead, the Warriors had three empty possessions in a row in which Butler's only touch was dribbling the ball up the floor, handing it to Curry at half court and sitting in the corner.

The Warriors did not score in those three possessions. The Suns scored eight straight to take a seven-point lead. Then Butler attacked the basket and got two free throws. The Curry hit a leaking-out Butler for a transition dunk.

The next possession, Butler didn't get a touch, and the Warriors didn't score.

Soon after, Butler hit a game-tying three.

You get the point.

On a night when Butler was the best player on the floor, he should've been more involved down the stretch.