The Golden State Warriors' 125-113 loss to the Phoenix Suns, it bears stressing, wasn't even as close as that double-digit deficit suggests. The defending champions trailed by 17 in the first half and were down 92-65 with 2:25 left in the third quarter, thoroughly out-classed by the Suns despite finally getting Steph Curry back and their southwest rival missing not just Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, but three additional rotation players.
There was plenty of blame to go around for Golden State on Tuesday night. After its third straight home loss, though, Steve Kerr took full accountability for the wholly uninspired play that wasted his team's furious fourth-quarter rally.
It was too little, too late for the Warriors in Steph Curry's return vs. the short-handed Suns. (via @armstrongwinter)https://t.co/i1PovTwHy3
— Warriors Nation (@WarriorNationCP) January 11, 2023
“I take responsibility for that. I clearly didn't have our guys ready to play. That's my fault,” he said. “I've gotta do a better job of giving them the slap in the face that Phoenix gave us in the first quarter. These games, they always go like this. A team's got a bunch of starters out, and then all the guys that normally don't play much, they can't wait to get out there.”
“These are all NBA players,” Kerr continued. “These guys are all great players. This is the league. There's no easy days in the league.”
But Tuesday should've been as close as an easy one comes for the Warriors. Buoyed by the presence of Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Andre Iguodala, Golden State had a perfect opportunity to finish its eight-game home stand on a high note, its recently returned veterans getting their feet against an objectively inferior opponent before leaving the friendly confines of Chase Center.
Instead, not even a fourth-quarter comeback that saw the suddenly engaged Warriors—spearheaded by Andrew Wiggins—force 13 turnovers and take 13 more shots than the Suns' C-team was enough to bring them closer than six points on the scoreboard before the final buzzer sounded.
“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,” Kerr said. “They made 14 threes and got 20 offensive rebounds because they were the more aggressive team, the more confident team. I'm hoping that fourth quarter was the team that I have come to know and love and recognize, but we have to show it in the first quarter, not in the fourth quarter, and it's my job to try and get that out of them.”
Golden State left moral victories and silver linings behind long ago. It speaks to the gravity of this team's struggles during certain points of Tuesday's game that Kerr was left grasping for them after a third consecutive defeat to an inferior opponent.
The Warriors definitely flipped the switch when they had to, though. At least they're healthy enough now—with Jonathan Kuminga (plus JaMychal Green and James Wiseman) still out—that such a sudden, marked turnaround is possible within the same game.
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