PHOENIX _ Andre Iguodala got caught on a pick screen, sending him briefly stumbling. It left T.J. Warren, Iguodala's man, with an open path to the hoop. Trailing by four with 12 seconds left, the Suns desperately needed points. But they didn't get them.
As Warren squirted free, Draymond Green rotated in a flash, cutting Warren off and jumping into his path without fouling. Green stretched his left arm out horizontally, plugging Warren's passing lane, while keeping his right arm straight to the ceiling to contest a potential layup.
An unsure Warren hesitated in the air and then heaved an off-balance semi-hook toward the rim. It missed. Green landed and jumped back up for the rebound, sealing the eventual win: 106-100 over the Suns, a second straight Warriors victory, this one closed out, in large part, because of Green's defensive heroics down the stretch.
"He was amazing," Durant said. "Player of the game."
This wasn't a dominant Warriors win. And for a third straight game, it wasn't an impressive performance. For much of the night, a young, likely lottery bound Suns squad looked their equal.
Phoenix took an early double-digit lead, pressing the Warriors, who continued to struggle completing simple passes against aggressive defense. At one point late in the first quarter, the Suns went on a 16-0 run. It included a back-to-back-to-back turnover stretch for the Warriors.
Situations that have typically led to Warriors points in the past morphed into Suns hoops on the other end. Like a possession where Phoenix double-teamed Stephen Curry up top and he jump-passed to a diving Green, going downhill into an appealing 4-on-3. But Green bumbled the advantage, sending an errant kick-out pass, intended for Klay Thompson, into Warren's hands.
The Suns pushed the steal upcourt. Green and his frustrated teammates failed to get back. Curry ole'd a drive. Eric Bledsoe slid by for an easy layup, two of Phoenix's 18 points off 10 first half Warrior turnovers.
"It's not as much the (number of) turnovers _ we cut our turnovers from 16 (last game) to 13," Green said. "We gotta cut down the way we're turning it over."
In the second quarter, Kevin Durant steadied the ship with one of his most underrated, valuable offensive skills: getting to the free throw line. Golden State hasn't had a high-volume free throw shooter in years. Durant is regularly top-10 in the league in attempts. Three seasons ago, he led the NBA.
On Sunday, with the Warriors offense stalling, he isolated and forced the issue. Phoenix put rookie Dragan Bender on him. Durant hit him with a hesitation move, caught Bender reaching and swung his arms right through the rookie. An easy foul call. Two easy points. A bit later, Durant drove right at Marquese Chriss, another Suns rookie, and forced contact. Another easy foul call. Two more easy points.
"They told me they needed my isolation prowess," Durant said of the Warriors. "They need me to be aggressive in isolations. That draws fouls. This team is so used to back-cutting, setting screens, running off screens. Sometimes you don't get a chance to get to the free throw line (like that)."
Durant took seven free throws in the second quarter and 16 in the game, making 15. Those 16 attempts were the most by a Warrior since Monta Ellis in January of 2012.
"That's huge," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We haven't had that. In a game like this, where it's such a grind, to have a guy get to the line, that's huge."
Durant finished the night with 37 points on an uber-efficient 10-of-16 shooting. He added four rebounds, four assists and four steals. In his 38 minutes, the Warriors outscored Phoenix by 18 points. He was the offensive star.
But once the Warriors retook the lead in the second half, Green was the defensive anchor, bringing the win home.
With 3:51 left and Golden State up six, Phoenix tried to run a Devin Booker, Tyson Chandler side pick-and-roll. Green, playing center in a small-ball lineup, jumped out to help on Booker. Behind him, Chandler dove to the rim for what looked like an open lob. But Green perfectly baited Booker, taking a step back and then bursting forward as Booker sent either a lob or floater upward. Green swatted it away.
"Draymond was fantastic," Kerr said.
A few possessions later, lightning-quick Bledsoe knifed past Curry into the lane, where no traditional Golden State shot-blocker resides. That may be a problem this season. But it wasn't down the stretch. Green pounced into Bledsoe's path, throwing his drive off-kilter. As Bledsoe tried to get a shot off, Green grasped the ball with both hands, not letting Bledsoe get it up. It forced a crucial jumpball, which Green won.
Two more Durant free throws followed on the next possession, which put the Warriors back up seven. Green struggled offensively again on Sunday. He shot 2-of-9, scored five points and missed all four of his 3s, including a wide open airball. But he finished with 13 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks, making all the crucial, gritty plays down the stretch to seal the win, vintage Draymond Green style.
"I'm used to seeing it," Kerr said. "That's who he is. Draymond is a junkyard dog who has turned himself into an All-Star. At his core, he's a guy who defends and rebounds and competes like crazy. The other stuff is fine and good, but what makes him who he is and what makes him so valuable for us, is what you saw in the second half tonight."
It was at the core of the Warriors win, along with Durant's efficiency. And it also helped mask, at least temporarily, a Golden State team with plenty of kinks still to be ironed out. Their next task comes on Tuesday night in Portland against a Blazers team far better than their last two opponents.
"I'd much rather be here now and then start peaking when it's the right time than where we were at the start of last season," Green said. "I felt we kinda peaked too early. It's frustrating. It's frustrating for everybody. But it's to be expected."
