The Associated Press
Janie McCauley
OAKLAND, Calif.—Luke Walton nearly had finished drawing up a play when Stephen Curry chimed in: run one for Klay.
Walton obliged—and so did Klay Thompson.
“I stepped in. I need to be a little quicker,” Curry noted. “I raised my hand.
“We got a bucket on it, too. It worked.”
There were so many buckets, in fact, Thompson couldn’t remember that exact one.
He scored 27 of his season-high 43 points in the third quarter as the Golden State Warriors responded after their first loss following a record 24-0 start by beating the Phoenix Suns 128-103 last night.
Curry added 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and seven assists as Golden State returned home from its two-week road trip that ended with its lone defeat—108-95 on Saturday at Milwaukee.
That also ended a 28-game overall winning streak by the Warriors—the second-longest in NBA history.
Draymond Green had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double this season.
Thompson, meanwhile, hit 15-of-22 shots and eight-of-13 three-pointers for his first 40-point game this season.
“I just knew if I was going to get those shots all game, [I] was going to knock them down,” he remarked.
Mirza Teletovic scored 24 points off the bench for the Suns, whose poor showing sent the sell-out crowd to the exits midway through the fourth quarter.
Thompson’s big quarter was reminiscent of his NBA-record, 37-point outburst in the third quarter of a career-high 52-point performance back on Jan. 23.
He helped the Warriors turn the game into a rout with a remarkable 67-23 run—making 9-of-11 shots in the third and four-of-six “threes.”
“You have to do everything right against these guys,” noted Suns’ coach Jeff Hornacek.
“We did it pretty decent for 18 minutes but you have to do it for all 48 minutes because they put them up quickly,” he stressed.
Example, the third quarter.
Golden State’s 46-point third is the largest in any quarter in the NBA this season.
With the starters resting down the stretch, the Warriors just missed a new largest win ever against the Suns—Golden State had a 133-103 victory on March 18, 1975.
In its first game at Oracle Arena in 18 days, Golden State warmed up with a big run stretching from the second quarter to the third.
The Warriors used a 58-19 run over 14:01 to turn a 42-38 deficit with five minutes left in the first half into a 96-61 advantage.
Golden State won its eighth in a row at home against Phoenix, fifth-straight overall, and 13th in 16.
The Warriors now will get a shot at Milwaukee again when the Bucks visit Oracle Arena on Friday.
“Big opportunity to redeem ourselves,” Curry said.
“We remember what happened less than a week ago.”
During Golden State’s long flight home from Wisconsin late Saturday, Walton finally could take a breath and reflected on the remarkable start his team had before the Warriors’ unbeaten run ended.
“Obviously it doesn’t feel great to lose, but it was a good time to reflect on what our guys had just done and what they accomplished,” he noted.
Now, Walton and his staff will make sure the Warriors get some much-needed days off while continuing to work on areas that need attention.
They began a stretch with just five games in two weeks and all at home, which includes a highly-anticipated Christmas Day home game and NBA Finals rematch with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It’s a fine line because of what our schedule’s been like, and our belief in resting players and keeping them fresh,” Walton said.
Elsewhere in the NBA, New York beat Minnesota 107-102, Indiana dumped Dallas 107-81, Orlando downed Charlotte 113-98, Miami shaded Brooklyn 104-98, Detroit topped Boston 119-116, and Chicago bounced Memphis 98-85.
Oklahoma City beat Portland 106-90, Atlanta bombed Philadelphia 127-106, San Antonio dumped Washington 114-95, New Orleans downed Utah 104-94, and the L.A. Clippers upended Milwaukee 103-90.
