Stephen Curry returns to Warriors' lineup after missing 11 games
Game Recap: Suns 125, Warriors 113
Stephen Curry returned to the Golden State lineup on Tuesday after missing 11 games with a partially dislocated left shoulder, but his return wasn’t enough to get the Warriors’ a win, too. Instead, the injury-plagued Phoenix Suns got the 125-113 victory in a dominating performance.
Before the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry didn’t have a strict minutes restriction. Curry started the game and played 31 minutes, slightly off from his 34.3 minutes per game average this season. Overall, Curry finished with 24 points on 8-for-22 shooting and 5-for-15 shooting on 3-pointers. He also added a rebound and three assists.
30's back.@Oracle || Game Ready pic.twitter.com/CSAYjMUvX6
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 11, 2023
Thompson had 29 points with six 3-pointers — four 3s and 14 points in the first quarter alone. Jordan Poole’s 3 with 1:28 remaining cut it to 117-111, and he scored 27 points.
Former Warriors guard Damion Lee received his championship ring in a pregame ceremony from brother-in-law Curry, then scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds against his former team. He converted six free throws over the final 1:13 and went 14 of 14 from the line overall.
“I just thought it was a special night all the way around,” Suns coach Monty Williams said, noting of the ring ceremony, Lee’s performance and the win, “that’s a trifecta if I ever heard of one.”
Overall, Golden State had its regular starting five again. Klay Thompson was a late scratch with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee for a 115-101 loss to the Magic on Saturday night. Andrew Wiggins returned Saturday from missing 15 games for both a strained muscle in his right upper leg and a non-COVID illness.
When Williams learned Curry would be back on the floor and Thompson also would be good to go, the Suns coach figured Phoenix would have to do everything right and make some of its own breaks to beat the defending NBA champions.
Stephen Curry dropped 24 points in his return to action. @UAbasketball || Second Look pic.twitter.com/l0ivyLX6lg
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) January 11, 2023
Behind Mikal Bridges 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Phoenix snapped its season-worst six-game skid.
While Warriors coach Steve Kerr noted, “to go 6-5 without Steph is an accomplishment,” the reigning NBA Finals MVP couldn’t do it all against a Phoenix team missing injured stars Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton and Cameron Johnson. The first two meetings in the desert were lopsided, with the Suns winning 134-105 and 130-119.
Kerr said Golden State let its “guard down” with the Suns missing so many players.
Are the Warriors just coasting through the regular season, or do bigger issues linger?
“We didn’t start competing until it was too late,” he said.
The Warriors have lost three in a row after a season-best five-game winning streak, wrapping up an eight-game homestand that matched the longest in franchise history. Now they have to hit the road again trying to best their 3-16 record away from Chase Center.
Informaton from The Associated Press was used in this report.
