PHOENIX - Even without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford and Brandin Podziemski, the Warriors made the Suns work.
They just didn’t have enough firepower to finish the job.
Golden State kept punching in a 131-122 loss Saturday at Mortgage Matchup Center, falling to 0-3 as Devin Booker delivered the kind of star turn the Warriors couldn’t match. Booker scored 43 points on 17 of 25 shooting and carried Phoenix through a game that stayed competitive well into the fourth quarter.
Curry, Green and Horford were held out for rest after Friday’s loss to Memphis, while Podziemski was scratched while the team managed his back issue. That left Steve Kerr with an 11-man group and a chance to see more from players like Yaxel Lendeborg, who handled more ball-handling duties while also dealing with Dillon Brooks on the other end.
The Warriors got a big night from De’Anthony Melton, who followed his 10-point outing against the Grizzlies with 25 points against Phoenix. He ran off 12 straight in the third quarter, capping the burst with a dribble pull-up 3-pointer that bounced around before dropping through to make it 89-86.
Golden State also got production from Brandon Williams, who scored 20 points and made 8 of 11 free throws, and from Lendeborg, who posted 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists while being treated like the focal point of the defense. Undrafted rookie Graham Ike, starting for the second straight game, added 12 points and 10 rebounds, even if the push shot Kerr compared to an Isaiah Hartenstein-style floater was off target at times.
The early edge belonged to the Warriors, who led 25-21 after the first quarter despite the short-handed roster. Charles Bassey, back from tendinitis and making his season debut, brought immediate energy around the rim and finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Phoenix kept leaning on Booker, and the Suns’ advantage was clear in the end. Golden State’s depth took another hit when Gui Santos appeared to injure his left leg on a shot near the rim late in the third quarter and went to the locker room with team medical personnel.
Kerr also picked up a technical with 6:07 left in the fourth, giving the Warriors more technical fouls on the season, four, than games played, three.
The night ended with Curry greeting LJ Cryer after the second-year guard buried a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and the Suns called timeout with three minutes left. It was a small snapshot of a game in which Golden State competed, but Phoenix had the guy who changed everything.
The Warriors will have an off day in Denver before facing the Nuggets on Monday.
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