Warriors win fifth straight as Curry scores 34, hold off Suns 116-113 after Green ejection
Stephen Curry scored 34 and Charles Bassey set a career high as the Warriors beat the Suns 116-113 for a fifth straight win despite Draymond Green's ejection.
The Golden State Warriors were 0-3 a little over a week ago. Now they're 5-3. Monday night at Chase Center they beat the Phoenix Suns 116-113 for their fifth straight win, with Stephen Curry scoring 34 points in a rematch that turned hostile well before the finish, USA TODAY Sports reported.
The win also evened things with Phoenix. The Suns beat Golden State on Oct. 24, and this time the Warriors played with more edge from the start. They needed it, because they lost Draymond Green in the third quarter. USA TODAY Sports reported that Green fouled Suns center Khaman Maluach and then took him to the floor. Dillon Brooks came at Green over the play, the two shoved each other, and both got technicals. It was Green's first ejection of the season. The Associated Press counted three technicals in the game.
Curry didn't shoot well from the field. He went 9 of 21, according to TalkBasket, but he hit five 3-pointers and finished with seven assists and six rebounds. He made 11 of 12 free throws. The only miss came with five seconds left, and the AP noted it ended a season-opening run of 51 straight makes. Brandin Podziemski added 20 points, and Yaxel Lendeborg had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, one night after scoring a career-high 37 against the Clippers.
The surprise was Charles Bassey. He scored a career-best 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, per the AP. Golden State was already short a center. Warriors On SI reported that Gui Santos, Brandon Williams and Al Horford were all out. With Green gone too, the bench got even thinner. Georges Niang gave the second unit some help, and Curry, Podziemski, Lendeborg, Bassey and Niang scored 102 of the team's 116 points between them. The same outlet reported that Devin Booker led Phoenix but fouled out on an offensive foul against De'Anthony Melton with less than a minute left. Collin Gillespie's 3 at the buzzer to tie it wasn't close.
What it means for Thursday against Miami
The Warriors host the Miami Heat on Thursday, Nov. 5, on NBA TV, with the streak at five. The opponents during the run were mixed. Golden State won by 20 at Denver and by five at Minnesota, then beat the Lakers by 17, the Clippers by 12 and Phoenix by three. That's a big turnaround from the opening week, when they lost by 22 to the Lakers, by three to Memphis and by nine at Phoenix.
The Suns win was the tightest of the five. That's partly because Curry and Green both rested Sunday against the Clippers, as TalkBasket noted, so Monday was the second night of a back-to-back for most of the team. The extra day before Miami arrives should help a short rotation. The big question is the frontcourt. Whether Horford and Santos return will decide whether Bassey keeps the minutes he earned Monday.
Miami is still finding its footing in its first season with Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Heat were 2-4 going into Monday's game against the Lakers, according to the team's NBA.com game notes. Golden State hasn't lost at home since the Memphis game, and Thursday is a chance to push the streak to six.
