Suns use strong defensive energy to handle Warriors

PHOENIX — A backbone strong enough to support the Phoenix Suns even when their stars aren’t cooking is how they can be an elite team, and we saw a glimpse of that possibility on Saturday in a 113-105 win over the Golden State Warriors.

Without Bradley Beal (left calf strain injury management), Devin Booker (8-of-20) and Kevin Durant (7-of-20) combined to shoot 15-for-40 (37.5%). But Phoenix (11-8) was able to lean on strong defensive energy and a handful of key contributions from its supporting cast for the win.

“That’s what we gonna need to happen,” Durant said. “We gonna have a game or two like this in the playoffs, where it’s just a clunky game, both teams (have) some of their best players not shooting great. But who can get the most stops, who can make shots at the end of the game — and I think tonight, that’s what we did.”

Stephen Curry, who was questionable coming into the game due to knee pain, didn’t look quite like himself and Phoenix jumped all over it. A brief portion of the third quarter included Curry heating up, when he knocked down all three of his attempts from deep. The Suns didn’t allow him to get another one up until the final frame when he had cooled off.

Curry shot 8-of-21 for 23 points. Booker and Durant both mentioned “game-plan discipline” when it came to the Suns’ effective night defensively.

“Obviously, Steph draws a lot of attention and he’ll make you pay if there’s any type of slip-up,” Booker said. “I think our game-plan discipline of just trying to make everything hard for him was pretty good.”

While the Warriors (12-7) have now lost four straight games, it has not been due to much of a drop-off in their stellar defensive play. In the last two weeks coming into the night, they were third in defensive rating, but the offensive rating plummeted to 28th across that stretch, per Cleaning the Glass. That made Phoenix’s defensive intention a key factor in the matchup, and it wound up as the decider.

Phoenix drilled 14 of its 18 threes in the first half, the most in the opening two quarters since 18 in the first half against the Houston Rockets in April 2021 led to the Suns setting a new franchise record of 25. The half also included 21 assists on 23 baskets.

Grayson Allen (3-for-6), Tyus Jones (4-for-5) and Royce O’Neale (3-for-4) all made at least three triples, and while Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro didn’t have one, the rookie duo provided a major spark defensively.

“That’s that young energy,” Booker said of the rookies.

“We trust them,” Durant said. “We expect that out of them. I think that’s what they bring to our team, that energy, that aggressiveness on defense, that physicality on defense and then challenging at the rim. That’s something that coach always emphasizes to everybody not just the bigs, but everybody just kinda have that collision mindset at the rim where you just want to disrupt the play.”

The Suns briefly spiraled into a fourth quarter straight out of last season that included two turnovers in the backcourt, cutting a 17-point lead down to five, but held on.

Beal and Jusuf Nurkic (right quadriceps contusion) were out, so Phoenix started Allen and Mason Plumlee. Allen took the place of Dunn, who has normally been spot starting in Beal’s position. Against an elite defensive team, the Suns opted for Allen’s high-level shooting. Allen’s screen-setting was a key in opening up some space for Booker early.

Booker had 27 points, three rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one turnover in 38 minutes. He looks like himself again after that five-day break.

Durant’s 21 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks were headlined by his awesome engagement on defense. His two-way play this year is up there with anyone across the league. Saturday was only the seventh time in Durant’s 95 career regular season games for the Suns that he’s shot 35% or worse. Oddly enough, Phoenix is now 6-1 in those contests, per Stathead.

Ighodaro provided six points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes. He is not far away from making a legitimate claim as the top performer in the center rotation this season.

In a similar vein, Monte Morris has given the Suns very good minutes whenever he has been called upon. His eight points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 15 minutes were big time, an outing Durant shouted out postgame. He’d be getting a lot more acclaim and requests from the fanbase for more run if not for how solid Jones has been. Speaking of, Jones contributed 19 points and nine assists.

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