George O'Brien said:
The Warriors have been playing better as of late and their stats did not reflect this improvement. Realistically, the Warriors shooters were really hot and hit a lot of shots even when reasonably well defensed. They forced some turnovers and made some fast break points.
However, the Warriors never could stop the Suns from scoring. As long as the Suns didn't screw around with the ball or take too early shots, the Suns could score and the Warriors couldn't stop them. So when the Warriors tired in the fourth quarter and stopped hitting their jump shots, the Suns just overwhelmed them.
Realistically, in the first half at least, the Golden State shooters were making wide-open shots and layups. The Phoenix Suns defense was nonexistent until the second half. Hunter's shot blocking helped a little, but the Warriors were still getting too many open shots from the perimeter. Speedy Claxton was giving Steve Nash and Barbosa fits with his quickness. He did a fantastic job of getting by his men, soaking in the defense, and finding the wide-open shooters. I mention it's difficult for any point guard, regardless of their defensive prowess, to keep Claxton from penetrating because he is so darn "Speedy".
Fortunately the Suns played with a little more energy on defense in the second half. it helped that this was Golden State's fourth game in five nights, so they tired by the fourth quarter. The shots they were getting were not quite as open and easy, and the Warriors stopped making them consistently as they wore out.
This Phoenix Suns team might not have a great record against teams with winning records (4-3), but they are definitely taking care of the losing teams (11-0). And I think it's very encouraging that they haven't been beaten soundly by anyone. All three of their losses were close games. I can't wait to see how well this team is playing when they are completely familiar with each other, so they and the coaches have all of the wrinkles ironed out.
Joe Mama
