Suns at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors spent most of the last two weeks racking up technical fouls and looking little like a cohesive unit poised to win a third championship in four years, but an impressive win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday seemed to settle things. The Warriors will try to make it through another contest without picking up a technical foul when they host the Phoenix Suns on Monday.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr is one of the members of the team that has a difficult time controlling his emotions, but he was all smiles after earning his 250th coaching victory in a 122-105 triumph over the Spurs. "It just means that I inherited a hell of a team," Kerr told reporters after becoming the fastest to reach 250 wins (302 games). "An amazing, talented group of players." That talented group still owns the best record in the NBA and is trying to get to the All-Star break without suffering a letdown against the likes of the Suns, who are losers of five straight and are surrendering an average of 121.6 points during the slide. Phoenix matched the largest margin of defeat in franchise history in a 129-81 home loss to the Spurs on Wednesday but looked sharper on the offensive end with new point guard Elfrid Payton in Saturday's 123-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Arizona (Phoenix), NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE SUNS (18-39): Phoenix picked up Payton from the Orlando Magic at Thursday's deadline and he collected 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds in his team debut despite not yet having a grasp on the playbook. "I thought he was good," interim coach Jay Triano told reporters of Payton. "It was different. The pace of play was better, getting the ball up and down the court, getting into the lane when he needed to, and making passes. He made guys on the floor with him better. I think it will only improve as well as he understands who can do different things and where to be." Payton seemed to have a positive effect on small forward TJ Warren, who scored 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (43-13): Golden State fell behind early on Saturday but started to take off when shooting guard Klay Thompson got hot. The All-Star scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and went 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, but it was his one-handed dunk in the lane that seemed to ignite the team. "Well, I caught the ball, and I had a good pace," Thompson told reporters. "I just went up and flushed it, and it felt very good."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors SF Kevin Durant, who averages 25.7 points, was held to a season-low 10 on Saturday
2. Suns SG Devin Booker (hip) sat out the last three games and is day-to-day.
3. Golden State is enjoying an 11-game winning streak in the series.