On Tuesday night, the Phoenix Suns stamped their class over the Golden State Warriors in their much-anticipated showdown, recording a 104-96 victory in front of a packed crowd at Footprint Center. Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul stole the show for the Suns, who extended their winning streak to 17 games, matching their franchise record.
Phoenix Suns tie franchise record with 17th consecutive win
The last time Phoenix won 17 games in a row was back in the 2006-07 season when stars Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire were still at the peak of their powers. This current Suns team managed to accomplish that same feat by going undefeated in November. They did it the hard way as well, beating the league-leading Warriors to tie the record.
Ayton and Paul stepped up big time for the Suns, with both players recording double-doubles again in the same game. Ayton wreaked havoc down low, scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Paul once again provided the veteran presence for the Suns, scoring 15 points and dishing out 11 assists.
In this contest, the Suns needed Ayton and Paul to deliver the goods more than ever, with superstar Devin Booker going down injured in the second quarter. The newly-minted Olympic champion appeared to injure his hamstring when driving to the basket, immediately grabbing the back of his left leg after his layup attempt. That ended the night for Booker, who exited the game with 10 points and two rebounds.
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Booker injures hamstring; Curry struggles in the matchup
There is no quit with the Phoenix Suns, who managed to keep the Warriors at bay despite the loss of their main scorer. They entered halftime with a 56-54 lead and maintained an 80-78 advantage after the third quarter.
The game was tightly contested, with neither team leading by double digits through the first three quarters. That was to be expected given this matchup featured teams with winning percentages of .850 or higher in at least 20 regular-season games, the first time that has happened in league history.
The Suns managed to pull away late in the fourth quarter to grab the lead from the Warriors in the Western Conference. Both teams share similar 18-3 records after Tuesday's showdown. It was a disappointing defeat for the Warriors, who had their seven-game winning streak snapped.
Steph Curry looked out of sorts in the game against the Suns, missing 17 of his 21 field goal attempts. Curry scored just 12 points, going 3 of 14 from beyond the arc. This was the worst shooting night of Curry's career when he records at least 20 shot attempts.
Jordan Poole led the Warriors in this contest, scoring a game-high 28 points on 9 of 15 shooting from the field. Unlike Curry, he found his stroke from deep, knocking down six 3-pointers against the Suns.
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