The Phoenix Suns won the away game at the Golden State Warriors on the first day of the new 2023/24 NBA season with 108:104. However, when Kevin Durant returned to his old place of work, co-star Devin Booker was the decisive man.
Booker was not only the game’s top scorer with 32 points, but also shone as an assist provider and quasi-point guard for the guests in the close final phase. Durant, who was under contract with the Warriors from 2017 to 2019 and won two titles there alongside the Splash Brothers, had a mixed evening (18 points, 7/22 FG).
After a disjointed first half, the Warriors erased a 15-point deficit at halftime with a 21-4 run early in the third quarter, but ultimately had no defense against Booker and the Suns. Josh Okogie (17 points) and the new center Jusuf Nurkic (14 points, 14 rebounds) were also convincing there.
The Warriors experienced an evening with almost consistently weak shooting rates: Steph Curry (8/20 FG) ended up with 27 points, the second best thrower was Klay Thompson (6/18 FG) with just 15 points. Chris Paul was in the starting five for the Dubs in his regular-season debut and had 14 points and 9 assists (4/15 FG).
In the first game of the new season, the Denver Nuggets had won against the Los Angeles Lakers 119:107.
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Warriors vs. Suns: Jusuf Nurkic puts the lid on late
A top performer was missing on both sides: The Warriors had to do without Draymond Green (ankle), while the Suns were missing new signing Bradley Beal with back problems. However, both should return shortly.
Strong shooting from the Suns at the beginning, especially from Devin Booker: The guests took advantage of their size advantages and immediately moved ahead to 14:7. The Warriors didn’t want to miss the layups, but Curry was able to cut the lead to 17:24 with his second three-pointer of the game. When the bench players came into the game, Golden State took advantage of its depth, five quick points from Moses Moody made it 28:28 at the end of the quarter. The good phase lasted for a few more minutes because the Dubs got a lot of rebounds and the Suns made sloppy turnovers – 35:30 Golden State.
When Nurkic and Booker came back onto the court, the game tipped over: Now Phoenix was scoring consistently again, while on the other side there was hardly anything going – plus there were pointless fouls that gave Josh Okogie two three-point games. A three-pointer plus a foul by Durant seconds before the siren ended a 9-0 run by Phoenix within a minute, with a 61:46 lead going into the break. The Warriors’ hit rate from the field at this point was just 31 percent.
Barely a minute into the second half had been played when a female fan had to be treated on the sidelines and then led out of the arena, and the game was briefly interrupted. The break seemed to be of particular use to the Warriors, who increased the pace and took open shots: after five quick points from Curry, the score was only 61:64, Phoenix timed out. Now the shot finally fell at CP3 – a three-point game put the home team in the lead (68:66). Because the Warriors suddenly kept getting to the line, the score went into the final quarter at 86:80.
Because Curry quickly had to go to the bench with a stupid fifth foul, the Suns suddenly had the upper hand again and equalized to 88:88 with 9:46 to go. Things remained very close until the final phase, but the fans in the Chase Center rarely got to see high-class basketball. With 1:32 minutes left, Jonathan Kuminga missed two free throws for the Warriors with the score at 99:100, in return Okogie sank a three-pointer from the corner. Eric Gordon then hit a three-pointer, but Curry promptly hit back with a triple – only 104:106. From the pick-and-roll with Booker, Nurkic finally made the decision with a layup.
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The most important statistics
Golden State Warriors (0-1) – Phoenix Suns (1-0) 104:108 (BOXSCORE)
The Warriors had an ice-cold evening from the field: 35.6 percent (36/101), from downtown it looked even worse with 10/43 – a miserable 23.3 percent. The Suns didn’t shoot the lights out either (44 or 33.3 percent), but were significantly better. Golden State owed the fact that it remained so close to a surprising preponderance at the free throw line (28:17), and they also passed clearly took better care of the ball (11:19 turnovers) and converted the opponent’s turnovers into 22 points. Otherwise the shooting rate would probably have been even worse. In terms of rebounds, the Suns ultimately led 60:49. However, they even got one fewer offensive rebound than the Dubs (17:18).
Warriors vs. Suns: The voices for the game
Devin Booker (Suns): “We knew they wouldn’t give up after our good first half, after all, they were champions two years ago and are a good team. I just wanted to stay aggressive. We have a very experienced team. This was our first game together, there’s still a lot to do, but we’re in pretty good shape.”
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The top of the game: Devin Booker (Suns)
Started the game red hot and finished it with a strong 32 points on 13/21 from the field, along with 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Booker was basically the point guard for Phoenix and recorded 6 turnovers, but in crunch time everything went through him despite KD: against double teams, he assisted the last eight points from Okogie, Gordon and Nurkic and shone as an ice-cold closer.
The flop of the game: Klay Thompson (Warriors)
A number of Warriors would be an option here, especially due to their horrendous throw rates from the field. Andrew Wiggins, for example, finished his night with 10 points on 4/12 from the field and only a single rebound, but at least did a good defensive job against Kevin Durant. Klay, on the other hand, not only looked bad offensively (6/18, 3 turnovers), but also defensively against Devin Booker. In addition, it is always noticeable that when he is looking for a hot streak, he immediately takes two bad ones after a dropped throw and thus damages the team. At least this appearance was not an argument for a contract extension.
Warriors vs. Suns: The stats leaders at a glance
CategoryWarriorsSunsPointsCurry (27)Booker (32)ReboundsLooney (11)Nurkic (14)AssistsPaul (9)Booker (8)StealsPayton II, Moody (3 each)Five players with one block eachSaric (2)Eubanks (3)
2023-10-25 05:25:28
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