The Golden State Warriors headed into their matchup on Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns full of confidence. Sure, they had lost their last two games but they were facing a Suns team here that was without Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Cameron Johnson, and the list just goes on and on.
They also had Stephen Curry return from injury, but what was supposed to be a fun night against a side that had lost 6 in a row turned into a nightmare. The Suns went up by as many as 27 points and a late Warriors comeback attempt fell short as they lost 125-113. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr took responsibility for this embarrassing loss.
(starts at 0:41 mark):
“I take responsibility for that. I clearly didn’t have our guys ready to play and that’s my fault. I’ve got to do a better job of giving them the slap in the face that Phoenix gave us in the first quarter. These games, they always go like this. A team’s got a bunch of starters out and then all the guys who normally don’t play much, they can’t wait to get out there.”
“So I think the combination of that dynamic and then us getting some guys back and trying to find our rhythm, it really got us off to a slow start. But I did like the fact that we competed in that fourth quarter and fought like crazy because sometimes in this league, you forgot how hard it is to win a game. It’s really hard to win an NBA game and the difference between winning and losing is like that.”
As head coach, he should have made it clear to them that they couldn’t take the Suns lightly. As Kerr rightly pointed out, we have seen it happen so many times where an undermanned team pulls off the upset and the Warriors were on the receiving end this time out.
Klay Thompson Kept It Real After The Loss
This game gave Klay Thompson a great chance to get some revenge. Klay and Booker had gotten into a heated exchange when these teams last met and it ended with Thompson getting ejected for the first time in his career. Klay started well and finished with a game-high 29 points but it wasn’t enough and afterward, he kept it real on the Warriors’ mindset entering the game.
Klay Thompson on tonight's loss:
"We relaxed a little bit more than we should. We thought we would show up and get the dub."
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) January 11, 2023
Klay Thompson on tonight’s loss:
“We relaxed a little bit more than we should. We thought we would show up and get the dub.”
You will get punished if you take teams lightly and expect to win just by showing up. It is a lesson they should have learned by now but they clearly didn’t. This was the 3rd straight home loss for Golden State and considering their struggles on the road, they can ill-afford to lose many more at Chase Center. The only positive to come out of this game ended up being Curry’s return.
Stephen Curry Reacted To His Performance On His Return
Curry had a slow start on his return as you might expect but he eventually got going. He scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 24 for the night and he spoke about his performance after the loss.
“After four weeks, it’s obviously kind of hit-or-miss on how much rust you’ll have and how quickly you can get up to the speed of the game. Obviously with the flow, with the way they were playing, first quarter felt good just to be back out there running with my guys and feeling the energy in the building again. And then kind of hit a little lull in the second and third quarter. I felt like I got stronger as the game went on, which is exciting knowing the body will respond.”
He did get stronger as the game went on and the Warriors will be hoping he carries on from there into their next outing against the San Antonio Spurs on the road. The Warriors have the worst road record in the NBA and they’ll need to up their game if they are to turn their fortunes around on their travels.
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