Suns maul Warriors in first half, Baynes has career night in road win
Oct 30, 2019, 10:22 PM | Updated: 11:29 pm
Aron Baynes #46 of the Phoenix Suns reacts after making a basket against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on October 30, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
If you watched enough of the Phoenix Suns the past few seasons, you saw a familiar-looking team on Wednesday night.
But it was the opposition.
And the opposition was the Golden State Warriors.
With a rotation heavy on fringe NBA bodies playing awful defense and mostly lifeless offense, the Warriors resembled the worst run of Phoenix basketball we’ve seen, and the Suns jumped all over ’em.
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They led 43-14 through one quarter, including a 21-0 run in under four minutes, and had a 72-46 advantage at the half. The 29-point lead at the end of the first quarter is the largest in franchise history.
While the Warriors would eventually respond, without an injured Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the Suns were still able to hold on for an impressive 121-110 win on the road.
The Suns were winning every 50-50 ball and playing their usual feisty defense. The Warriors were clearly not ready for a presence in the passing lanes, as the Suns had 10 steals and 25 points off 16 Warriors turnovers.
On the other end, it was that usual feeling of, “Man, this seems like a whole lot of open shots they’re getting,” but this time, the Suns were the ones creating them off terrible defense.
Every Suns starter was in double figures and rookie Cam Johnson added 12 points off the bench.
Aron Baynes had a career night, posting 24 points, 13 rebounds, a career-high seven assists and three blocks. He is the only player in the NBA to record that stat line this season, per Basketball-Reference.
Devin Booker wasn’t too shabby, either, with 31 points, four rebounds and five assists. Ricky Rubio had 14 with seven assists, Dario Saric added 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and a career-high five steals, plus 11 points from Kelly Oubre Jr.
Phoenix entered the game leading the league in the percentage of assists on made field goals and they will likely strengthen its hold on that after this game, with 33 assists on 44 field goals.
The Warriors recovered to 43.9% shooting after a putrid start.
The only negative for the Suns was free throw attempts allowed, where they once again allowed 35-plus for the fourth straight game, this time 36.
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