The Warriors failed to take advantage of the Suns’ absences as Phoenix missed three starters – Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton.
Golden State, despite having Steph Curry return to the lineup, lost the game (113-125). The Dubs allowed 31 points in the first quarter, followed by 28 and 39 points in the following quarters.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked after the game about his team’s subpar defensive effort to start the game.
“I take responsibility for that. I clearly didn’t have our guys ready to play and that’s my fault,” Kerr said. “I’ve got to do a better job of giving them the slap in the face that Phoenix gave us in the first quarter.
“These games always go like this a team’s got a bunch of starters out and then all the guys who normally don’t play much they can’t wait to get out there. A guy like Saric, he comes out and just kicks our butt and these are all NBA players.
“These guys are all great players. This is the league. Theres no easy days in the league. So, I think the combination of that dynamic and then us getting some guys back and trying to find our rhythm. It really got us off to a slow start.
“But I did like the fact that we competed in that fourth quarter and fought like crazy because sometimes in this league you forget how hard it is to win a game. It’s really hard to win an NBA game and the difference between winning and losing is, like, it’s one team has the edge emotionally like Phoenix did. And then they set a tone right away. That’s all it takes.”
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