The two best teams in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns faced off on Christmas Day at Footprint Center, and the game lived up to the hype.
Steph Curry scored 10 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth, while Otto Porter added 13 of his 19 points in the final period as the Warriors would pick up a second-straight win over the Suns 116-107.
The Warriors(27-6) now have the best record in the NBA and lead the season series 2-1.
Down the stretch, it became the Otto Porter show for the Warriors. With Golden State leading 104-99 with just over five minutes to go, Porter scored 10 of the Warriors’ final 12 points.
Without Andrew Wiggins(health/safety), Jordan Poole(health/safety), and Klay Thompson(Achilles), Porter stepped up, and the Warriors got a big win on Christmas Day.
“Coach(Steve Kerr) drew up a couple of plays that freed me open, and my teammates did a good job of finding me,” Porter said, who also added six rebounds and three assists. “I was able to step in and knock some shots down, and they kept finding me, so I kind of got into a rhythm.”
Suns’ Christ Paul, who had a team-high 21 points to go along with eight assists, and six rebounds, added on Porter: ‘He hit big shots down the stretch. He damn-near was a max player in this league at one point.”
For the Phoenix Suns(26-6), their 15-game home winning streak is now over, and the sentiment on their side was that the Warriors wanted it more.
“They created those breaks. They played harder than us,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said. “It’s rare when I say that about our team. They outworked us more consistently for 50-50 balls, timely offensive rebounds, diving out of bounds to save balls.”
Devin Booker, who had 13 points against Golden State, added: “They wanted it more, and they played like it. We just have to take this loss and move on to our next game.”
It appears these two teams will battle it out the rest of the way for supremacy in the West and the NBA. It would also appear that the Warriors could have the advantage as they will get back Klay Thompson and James Wiseman at some point.
Because of their great start, we forget the Golden State Warriors are not whole, so this team could be even more formidable when they get everybody back.
Watch below as Porter talks big win over Suns on Christmas Day:
