PHOENIX — The Warriors are one win from clinching a playoff spot for the first time since 2007, thanks to an effort which saw them come from 18 points down on the road to get a 111-107 win over the Suns on Friday.
Phoenix got off to a hot start behind 15 first quarter points from Goran Dragic, who tied a career high by finishing the game with 32 points. Michael Beasley got loose for 19 first half points, and the Suns socred 64 points in the first two periods while shooting 65.8 percent in the process.
“It started with Dragic,” Stephen Curry said afterward. “He came out and hit a lot of jumpers. We followed the game plan, but we could have ben a little bit more physical, I think. Got into him a little bit more. I think he only had one shot in the paint, so you can say you can live with it, but you can’t. At some point you’ve got to make him do something else, and that’s what the third quarter was.”
Warriors head coach Mark Jackson similarly lamented his team’s start, but was obviously pleased with the way his players responded.
“We were not prepared in the first quarter,” he said. “Our defense wasn’t sharp. We were scoring, but we were a step slow defensively. Unacceptable. At the same time, awfully proud of my guys that we responded. There was a time where we’d have to talk about it tomorrow and make the adjustment. But we talked about it at halftime, and we came out and put together a picture perfect third quarter, and it was a big win for us.”
The third quarter was owned by the Warriors, who outscored the Suns 32-14 in the period thanks to 15 points from Klay Thompson, who played all 12 third quarter minutes.
The Warriors pushed their lead to as many as nine in the fourth quarter, but the Suns battled back to make it a one-possession game with 22 seconds left, trailing by just three.
Stephen Curry turned the ball over with a bad pass, and the Suns had new life, with possession of the ball and 18 seconds remaining. As soon as it was inbounded, however, David Lee committed the personal foul near midcourt, preventing the potentially game-tying shot attempt from three-point distance from ever taking place.
Jackson’s philosophy is to play the game this way defensively when the situation dictates it, but with 17.2 seconds left, it was more of a risk than usual. Jackson and Lee both said afterward that the foul came much too soon, and that it was supposed to occur after the Suns had gotten into their offensive set.
It didn’t end up making a difference, because the Warriors won the free throw shooting contest thanks to a miss from Jermaine O’Neal at the line which allowed the Warriors to extend the lead to two possessions.
The win was the biggest comeback of the season for the Warriors, but more importantly, that playoff berth the team has worked toward since the beginning of the year is finally within reach. A home win over Utah on Sunday will clinch a spot in the postseason.
“It means a lot,” Curry said, of being so close to the playoffs. “Coach said a lot of people in this locker room haven’t tasted that before. So for us to be right there and to have a home game to clinch it — we understand we have a bigger goal than that, but it would be nice to just go ahead and get the X by our name, shave these beards off, and keep moving.”
Once the Warriors are officially in (and it would take a monumental collapse to prevent that from happening at this point), they won’t be able to afford efforts like this one. The Suns finished the game shooting 61.1 percent from the field, yet Golden State managed to win nonetheless.
I asked Curry if he’d ever seen an opponent shoot that well against his team and still lose.
“I’m not a statistician,” he said, after stumbling to find the correct pronunciation of the word a couple of times. “But yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever kind of seen that.
“But you’ve got to get it done however you can get it done at this point.”
