Tuesday’s season opener between the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors brought playoff vibes to San Francisco to start the 2023-24 campaign.
After the Suns jumped to a 15-point lead at halftime, it looked like the Warriors were trending toward a blowout loss. However, a sizzling third-quarter led by Steph Curry and Chris Paul was good enough to get the Warriors back into the driver’s seat heading into the final frame of opening night. The Warriors outscored the Suns 40-19 in the third quarter to steal an eight-point lead before the start of the fourth quarter.
Despite holding a lead late in the game, the Warriors had no answer for Devin Booker. The former Kentucky Wildcat tallied 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field to go along with eight assists and six boards in 36 minutes. Serving as the Suns’ point guard, Booker made several key plays down the stretch to snatch the game away from the Warriors.
While Booker controlled the game and Josh Okogie stepped up with multiple clutch plays, the Warriors missed multiple layups at the rim to let the game slip away in the fourth quarter. The Warriors missed 15 layups on Tuesday on their way to a 108-104 loss to the Suns on opening night.
Curry led the Warriors with 27 points on 8-of-20 from the field with four made triples in 30 minutes. In his debut with the Warriors, Paul tallied 14 points on 4-of-1t5 shooting from the field to go along with nine assists and six boards in 34 minutes.
After the Warriors started the season with a loss to the Suns, the NBA community on Twitter chimed in with a flurry of reactions. Here’s a look at what fans and analysts were saying on social media on Tuesday night.
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Steph picking up his 5th foul was the turning point… Suns immediate run to take the lead and never gave it up again.
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
Chris Paul is now 0-5 the first time he plays against a former team
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 25, 2023
Warriors somehow found a way to lose tonight when they were:
+8 Turnover Battle
+11 FTA’s
Outscored from 3 by only -3.— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
Lakers and Warriors after opening night pic.twitter.com/mavrMkr4e2
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) October 25, 2023
I’m feeling Optimistic about this season ngl
— De🅿️ressed Warriors Fan 💔 (@GoIdenState) October 25, 2023
CP3 put up 14 PTS, 6 REB, and 9 AST in his Warriors debut tonight 👀#KiaTipOff23 pic.twitter.com/H5pBQTZhCT
— NBA (@NBA) October 25, 2023
Solid games from Moody and Kuminga… might’ve looked even better had they got consistent run last season…
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
Steph Curry in the Warriors season opener:
🎯 27 PTS, 5 REB#KiaTipOff23 pic.twitter.com/o7Eu34H8pK
— NBA (@NBA) October 25, 2023
🫣🫣🫣🫣 pic.twitter.com/heeUUltGDr
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
36 mins from Klay and 34 mins from CP3 is unacceptable
— Shohei Ohtani Stan Account (@AndyKHLiu) October 25, 2023
Andrew Wiggins: 10 points, 4-of-12 shooting, 1 rebound, minus-22
Josh Okogie: 17 points, 7-of-9 shooting, 5 rebounds, plus-2
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 25, 2023
Not a good game for Wiggins at all. @warriors need to run. too many times got rebound gave to CP3 dribble dribble RUN!!!
— DaryleTHEGURUJohnson (@DDDGURU) October 25, 2023
We weren’t gonna learn anything meaningful about this team until they go through this upcoming road trip anyway
— Brian Witt (@Wittnessed) October 25, 2023
Warriors with only 11 turnovers tonight… a positive sign 🤣
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
Warriors gonna need Wiggs to get a bit more active on the glass.
He had no defensive rebounds tonight. Only 1 offensive rebound
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
Sequence of the Game:
Down 1
JK 4/4 FTs on the night… misses both FTs
Okogie hits 3 as shot clock expires
Steph FTs
Eric Gordon 1/8 from 3, hits a 3.
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
Well, at least the Warriors will extinguish the Beam on Friday……….🤞🏼
— Dr. Nirav Pandya, M.D. (@DrNiravPandya) October 25, 2023
Warriors shooting tonight:
🧱 36/101 (36%) FGs
🧱 10/43 (23%) from 3Steph 8/20
Klay 6/18
CP3 4/15
Wiggins 4/12
Saric 3/11
GP2 0/5— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2023
Devin Booker with awesome playmaking down the stretch. Generated 8-straight points seen here to clinch the win for the Suns.
Book can use the threat of his scoring to open up his teammates. A complete superstar. pic.twitter.com/uLHkgtTjXA
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) October 25, 2023
