An absurd three-point game-winner from Stephen Curry has lifted the Golden State Warriors to a huge win over the Phoenix Suns, with the hosts escaping with a 113-112 victory in Saturday’s marquee matchup at Chase Center.
The Warriors had led by five with less than three minutes remaining, yet some clutch shot-making from Devin Booker threatened to break Golden State hearts again. Down two with 3.3 seconds to play, Curry gathered a slightly awry inbounds pass from Brandin Podziemski, before turning and drilling the three to regain the lead.
With 0.7 seconds to play, the Warriors still had to survive a controversial Suns possession after the timeout. Andrew Wiggins fouled Booker on the initial entry pass, though fortunately Golden State had a foul to give. After a long review process that eventuated in 0.1 of a second being taken off the clock, Draymond Green bothered Kevin Durant who was unable to get a shot off.
Stephen Curry’s game-winner continues the Golden State Warriors momentum, having now won six of their past seven games
The back-and-forth contest deserved an electric finish, with the teams exchanging the lead on countless occasions over a nail-biting second-half. Booker seemingly put his team on his shoulders down the stretch to finish with 32 points, but Curry had the last laugh after his ninth three-pointer.
Following 11 made triples against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, Curry continued his red-hot shooting in going 9-of-16 from beyond the arc on Saturday night. The two-time MVP had another 30 points, while also adding nine rebounds, six assists and finishing as a game-high +10.
WITH .7 SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK pic.twitter.com/3JF0vmUeR4
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 11, 2024
Behind 14 points from an aggressive Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors seemed to have the momentum for large parts of the first-half. Yet any push was almost immediately met by Phoenix resistance, leading to a one-point Golden State lead at half-time.
The second-half was nothing but a fight to the death, with neither team extending beyond a six-point advantage at any stage. Curry and Booker continued to find their groove, while Draymond Green got the better of a fiery battle with Suns’ big man Jusuf Nurkic.
In their first matchup since Green’s hit on Nurkic that resulted in an indefinite suspension, the pair exchanged some verbal trash-talk and each hit the other with an extravagant ‘too small’ signal after respective baskets on the inside.
Green took advantage of Curry’s gravity to finish with 15 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, while Kuminga finished with another 21 points and five rebounds on 9-of-18 shooting. Brandin Podziemski had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, including the game-winning dime to Curry.
The return of Gary Payton II was an undoubted positive, with the defensive ace looking lively on both ends of the floor. After missing 16-straight games with a hamstring strain, the 31-year-old connected on multiple alley-oop dunks/layups, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting.
After a positive performance in his last outing against the 76ers, Klay Thompson again struggled in finishing with just five points 2-of-10 shooting. The 34-year-old was limited to just over 24 minutes of game-time, with Podziemski again preferred in the closing lineup of both halves.
The one-point win is the Warriors’ sixth in their last seven games, pushing them back to a .500 (25-25) record for the first time since Christmas Day. Golden State will now travel to Utah to face the Jazz at Delta Center on Monday.
