Devin Booker, Kevin Durant lead Suns to comeback win vs Warriors

On By Littum

game

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant led the way Phoenix Suns over Stephen Curry and Golden State Warriors113-105, Saturday.

The Suns played without starters Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic due to injuries.

This was a comeback win for the Suns after their loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. The win also extended the recently struggling Warriors’ skid to four games.

Booker had 27 points and nine assists, and Durant had his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Curry had a team-high 23 points with seven rebounds, Andrew Wiggins had 18 and Draymond Green had 13 with seven assists to lead Golden State.

The Suns held the lead from the end of the first quarter, and their largest margin was 19. The Warriors did not give up in the closing minutes. They went on a 9-0 run that shaved the Suns’ lead back to six on a dunk by Jonathan Kuminga (12 points) after the Warriors recovered a turnover by Tyus Jones (19 points, nine assists) in the fight. Warriors’ full court pressure with two minutes remaining.

Durant hit his third 3-pointer on the next Suns possession, and then Kuminga and Curry scored two buckets to cut it to five. Kuminga fouled Booker during the two ensuing Suns possessions. Booker made the ensuing four free throws to secure the win.

The Suns play in the final of their six-game homestand against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at 19. The game is an NBA Cup West Group B game.

Curry gets hot for the Warriors in the 3rd quarter

Phoenix enters the fourth quarter with an 85-78 lead and has been ahead since the end of the first.

Booker has a game-high 21 points with six assists.

Curry started to look like his usual self in the third, scoring 15 of his 17 total points (5-of-14 FG). After his 0-for-5 first-half struggles, he had a heat check, hitting three 3s before the midpoint of the third quarter. That cut the Suns lead to nine. Green has been the Warriors’ most effective shooter. He has shot 5-of-7, including two 3s, for 13 points.

Allen, sun heat from deep in the 2nd quarter

Grayson Allen scored all 13 of his points (4-of-5) in the second quarter to lead Phoenix to a commanding 66-49 halftime lead.

The Suns’ outside shooting has been problematic for the Warriors. They have shot 54.8% overall and a stunning 66.7% on 21 triples (14 made). The Suns ended the second quarter on a 13-5 run to extend their biggest lead to 17.

The Suns’ other starters Booker, Durant and Tyus Jones have all scored in double figures with 12, 10 and 11.

Wiggins has a Warriors team-high 11 points (4-of-8) and Curry struggled in the half with just two points and missed all five of his attempts.

Caitlin Clark for the Suns-Warriors game

There was a sighting of WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark sitting courtside at the Suns-Warriors game.

The Indiana Fever guard was shown on the Footprint Center’s Jumbotron not long after the midpoint of the second quarter.

Clark was a First-Team All-WNBA selection during her historic debut season in 2024, where she won Rookie of the Year honors.

Booker, Durant kick Suns in close 1st quarter

Devin Booker’s 10 points and Kevin Durant’s eight have powered Phoenix to a 35-29 lead to close the opening quarter.

Warriors starting guard Brandin Podziemski has a team-high eight points.

It was a tight margin throughout the first quarter, with six ties and three lead changes. The biggest Suns lead was six, and the Warriors’ five.

The best highlight of the first quarter was Booker dishing one of his four assists to Suns’ rookie big Oso Ighodaro at 1:17 to put them ahead, 32-27.

Starting lineups

The Suns start guards Tyus Jones and Booker, Grayson Allen gets his first start of the season, Durant at the four and Mason Plumlee at center.

The Warriors start Curry and Brandin Podziemski in the backcourt, forwards Wiggins and Green, and Trayce Jackson-Davis in the middle.

Kerr jokes about ASU’s win over Arizona

Warriors coach Steve Kerr joked that Arizona State routed its alma mater and rival Arizona in the Territorial Cup, 49-7 on Saturday. Kerr started his pregame media availability and showed his allegiance to the Wildcats, drawing laughs.

“Before I get started, if there’s any U of A or ASU questions, I want to remind everyone that we still have the all-time lead, 51-46,” Kerr said.

Kerr played basketball at Arizona from 1983-88 and was drafted by the Suns when he graduated.

Suns’ Beal, Nurkic out

Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer said during his pregame media availability that Beal and starting center Nurkic (right quad contusion) have been downgraded from questionable to out. Suns backup guard Collin Gillespie (fractured right ankle) is out.

Golden State’s future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry (bilateral knee patellofemoral pain) and Andrew Wiggins have been ruled available shortly before tip-off. The Warriors have a long list on their injury report. It also includes Jonathan Kuminga (illness) and Gary Payton II (right adductor tightness) elevated from probable to available. Former Suns guard De’Anthony Melton (left ACL sprain) and Gui Santos (G League – on assignment) are out.