The mental mistakes, night in and night out, have killed the Warriors chances at every opportunity. And as a result, the Warriors fall to 8-11, sliding faster and faster down their division.
In 3 consecutive possessions in the 4th quarter, the Warriors were unable to execute offensively or defensively to close the 5-7 point gap, in large part existing because of the Warriors own dysfunction than anything the Suns actually did.
With 3 minutes left, Monta Ellis missed two free throws, which would have brought the Warriors within 1. On the next possession, Ellis bumped Steve Nash for a blocking foul that put Nash on the line, making both freebies. On the next possession Ellis’ costly double dribble became a jumper by Jason Richardson with the shotclock hitting zero, putting the Suns back up by 7. Then, after playing tough defense, forcing the Suns into a wild shot with the shot clock hitting zero again, Dorell Wright reached and was called for a foul, putting the Suns back on the line, stretching the lead even further.
But these kinds of miscues were no exception but the rule tonight. They held the Suns to "only" 22 free throw attempts (missing 1). But the Warriors only made 10 of 17 free throws for a horrendous 56%.
Jason Richardson deserved the game ball for putting a dagger in the hearts of Warriors fan, ending every small Warriors run with a jumper. He finished with 25 points on 10-15 shooting.
Steve Nash collected a double-double with 13 points to go with his 15 assists.
In what seemed to be a much anticipated showdown between crafty point guards in elder Steve Nash and his seeming replacement in Stephen Curry was much to be desired. Curry finished with 9 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. A non-factor for most of the game, Curry did not register an assist after halftime
Gone from Curry’s scoring repertoire are the flip shots and floaters that Steve Nash has perfected and made into a weapon that ever point guard now utilizes in their toolkit. Instead, we saw poor decision making and unnecessary fouls.
Ellis led the Warriors 38 points on 15-27 shooting, but had several poor fouls and turnovers down the stretch. David Lee, playing 44 minutes, had 25 points, 8 boards, and 5 assists.