The Golden State Warriors will host the Phoenix Suns in San Francisco on Saturday with each team looking to bounce back from disappointing showings on Friday.
Phoenix enters as losers of four of its past five games, most recently 98-89 at home against the Dallas Mavericks in which the Suns mustered just 14 points in the second quarter and shot 38.6 percent from the field for the game. Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic was ejected in the third quarter after slapping Dallas’ Naji Marshall across the head.
The Suns have been trying to tread water without Devin Booker, who’s missed the past four games with a groin injury and will be sidelined on Saturday. Booker’s average of 25.1 points per game follows Kevin Durant’s 27.5 for the team lead, with Durant scoring 35 in Friday’s loss.
For Durant, the Nurkic altercation was the wrong kind of fight from the Suns on Friday.
“You hate to see that in this game, because guys will get suspended and lose a lot of money doing that,” Durant said. “But that’s what happens when you compete sometimes — your temper flares up a little bit and you go overboard. … Being frustrated out there, sometimes you do things that you regret after the game, so hopefully we can move on from it.”
Nurkic likely will face discipline from the NBA, and the Suns would be without his 8.8 points and team-leading 9.5 rebounds per contest if he’s suspended.
Golden State suffered a similar fate from the field in its 102-92 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, shooting 36.8 percent from the field overall and 18.4 percent (7-for-38) on 3-pointers. Trailing 81-62 entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors trimmed their deficit to three with 2:30 left, but that was as close as they got en route to their third straight loss and sixth in seven tries.
Stephen Curry, the Warriors’ leading scorer at an average of 22.5 points per game, missed Friday’s contest for knee-injury management. Golden State also was without Draymond Green (8.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists per game), who is dealing with a lower-back contusion, but both players are expected to return Saturday.
The Warriors hope to see an improvement from point guard Dennis Schroder, acquired on Dec. 14 in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. Schroder was averaging 18.4 points per game with Brooklyn but has an 8.2 mark in five games with Golden State.
“It’s difficult to go to a new team in the middle of the season and not know your teammates very well,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Schroder. “It takes some time. He’s still basically in training camp. What you do is trust who the player has been for 10 or 12 years and you trust that he’ll get comfortable and settle in. It’s also been a tiny sample size that you’re talking about.”
Golden State will square off with its Pacific Division rival for the second time this season on Saturday following a 113-105 loss at Phoenix on Nov. 30.
–Field Level Media
