(SportsNetwork.com) – Only the strong survive.
The Golden State Warriors are holding strong as the NBA’s last undefeated team
and will put their 5-0 record to the test Sunday against the Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix will not be a pushover to their Pacific Division rivals and split four
meetings with the Warriors last season. Golden State has won eight of the last
10 games against the Suns, but has lost two in a row and 15 of the previous
encounters in the desert.
Golden State knocked off the 6-0 Houston Rockets with Saturday’s 98-87 triumph
at the Toyota Center and was led by Stephen Curry’s 34 points, 10 rebounds and
five assists. Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green scored 15 and 14 points,
respectively, and Andrew Bogut pulled down 18 rebounds to go with eight points
for the Warriors, who had a 28-13 scoring advantage in the third quarter.
“We pushed the ball in transition. We got into a flow and got into what we
were trying to do,” said Curry, who had seven points during an important 9-0
run in the second half.
Klay Thompson, who is averaging 27.0 ppg, was held to 11 points and handed out
a team-high six assists.
The Rockets attempted 42 3-pointers, making 10 of them. The Warriors were no
better from beyond the arc and connected on just 9-of-28 from downtown.
The Warriors are 5-0 for the first time since the 1994-95 season and started
6-0 back in 1960-61, when they resided in Philadelphia.
Golden State leads the league in scoring (107.2), point differential (+14.8),
field goal percentage (.493), steals per game (10.20), opponents’ field goal
percentage (.399), opponents’ 3-point percentage (.258) and turnovers forced
per game (21.4).
Warriors first-year head coach Steve Kerr is off to a 5-0 start. The last
coach to win the first six games of his NBA head coaching career was Larry
Drew in 2010.
Kerr’s squad is 3-0 on the road this season and will start a three-game
homestand Tuesday versus San Antonio, Brooklyn and Charlotte. The Warriors
have won 21 of the last 29 road games.
The Suns have lost two straight to start a five-game homestand and three of
four overall, and are coming off Friday’s 114-112 double-overtime loss to
Sacramento.
Eric Bledsoe had 23 points and eight assists for Phoenix, while Goran Dragic
scored 22 and Miles Plumlee filled the stat sheet with 15 points and 16
rebounds. Markieff Morris posted 16 points.
“We just gotta do a better job of closing out games,” Bledsoe said.
Phoenix’s largest deficit was only two points and it had a 12-point lead in
the fourth quarter before the Kings made a run. Former King Isaiah Thomas had
a 3-point attempt at the buzzer fall short to force overtime.
Sacramento went ahead for good on a Rudy Gay basket with 1:07 to play in the
second overtime.
The Suns will also host Brooklyn and Charlotte on the homestand.
