OAKLAND, Calif. _ Shaun Livingston's late-game, no-look pass found a wide open Kevin Durant in the corner. The Warriors' 133-120 Sunday night home win over the Suns had already been decided. But a slice of drama remained.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson sat at 30 points. If Durant hit the 3, he'd hop his point total from 29 to 32, giving the high-scoring trio its first 30-30-30 game together. But that rare piece of teammate history will have to wait for another day. Durant back-rimmed the 3, the Suns rebounded, the game came to an end.
On this night, that was one of the few things that didn't go right for the Warriors offensively. But all those points were needed because all but a few things went wrong for the Warriors defensively. The young Suns, on the second night of a back-to-back, scored 120 points, shot 51 percent and had the game tied with five minutes left.
The Warriors turned it up down the stretch. But it was surprise that they even had to.
"If you're trying to win a championship, you don't do that simply by outscoring people," Steve Kerr said. "You have to be able to defend at a high level."
The Warriors, now 8-2, have an interesting four-game East Coast road trip ahead, starting in Toronto on Wednesday and continuing in Boston, Milwaukee and Indianapolis.
