Warriors at Suns
The Golden State Warriors lucked out with a shorthanded Houston Rockets squad on Saturday but still took care of business to keep their undefeated record alive. The Warriors will try to move to 6-0 when they visit the Phoenix Suns in the second night of a back-to-back Sunday. The Suns dropped a double-overtime thriller to Sacramento on Friday and have lost the first two of a five-game homestand.
The Warriors are the last unbeaten team left in the NBA after knocking off Houston while Memphis was falling on Saturday to Milwaukee, and their 107.2 scoring average leads the league. Phoenix can score in bunches as well but has been struggling to quickly get in and out of its offensive sets of late. “I don’t know if we’re tired and out of shape or what, but there’s some talk that maybe we’re not in the best of shape,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters. “These guys in the fourth quarter were walking it up and we were getting caught with the shot clock (running down).”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (5-0): Stephen Curry buried six 3-pointers while collecting 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on Saturday and is turning things around after a slow start shooting the ball. The All-Star guard is 10-of-17 from beyond the arc in the last two games after struggling to 6-of-22 in the first three games. While the offense is impressive, the defense has also been a key, and Golden State held Houston to 28-percent shooting in the second half of Saturday’s 98-87 win to turn an eight-point deficit into an easy victory down the stretch.
ABOUT THE SUNS (3-3): Phoenix features a small lineup that likes to attack but had a hard time against Sacramento’s bigger front line while being outrebounded 60-42 in Friday’s 114-112 double-overtime setback. The Suns were consistently pushed off their spots by the Grizzlies and Kings the last two games. “Our gamesmanship needs to get better,” Hornacek told the Arizona Republic. “When you're in the league for a while, you start to realize, 'I need to create this space for this guy, so I'm going to bring the ball four feet to the right.' Experience comes with that."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams split four meetings last season, with each protecting homecourt.
2. The last time Golden State started 5-0 was 1994-95, when they finished 30 games under .500.
3. Phoenix G Isaiah Thomas averaged 23 points on 67.9 percent shooting the first two games but is down to 12.5 on 39 percent in the last four contests.