On March 31, Beijing time, the Warriors met the challenge of the league's First Sun at home, and Curry continued to be absent in this game, with Green and Clay starting. Prior to this game, the two teams have performed very differently in recent times, with the Suns soaring, having won 61 and locked in the 1st place in the league, while they have now won 8 consecutive games and are in good shape. On the other hand, the Warriors, on the other hand, have suffered three consecutive losses, and this game loss will fall to the 4th place in the West, and the team's recent performance has been very bad. This campaign is against the No. 1 Suns in the league, and if they want to win, they need to play at a high level.
In the first quarter of this game, the Warriors young player Poole was full of firepower, he was in very good shape, hitting three points in a row at 45 degrees on the right side, and he had 15 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists in 6 of 7 shots in a single quarter, and the overall performance was very eye-catching. With his help, the Warriors scored 32 points in a single quarter, 3 points ahead of the Suns and took the initiative in the game.
In the second quarter, the Warriors attacked the crotch, they shot consecutive shots missed, and the Suns, they played brightly, with a smooth offense, they won 5 points in a single quarter. By the end of the half, the Suns had already surpassed the Warriors by two points to regain the initiative.
In the third quarter of the game, Poole once again took over the team's offense, and when other players were underperforming, he stepped forward, scoring 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in a single quarter, and when facing the Suns' team offense, Poole became the Warriors' most trusted offensive strength, and he helped the team always cling to the score. At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors were still just two points behind the Suns.
In the final quarter, the Warriors had relied on the play of Poole and Wiggins, they had a lead in the score, but the Suns' offensive performance was too strong, their offensive efficiency was very high, and with 3 minutes left in the game, the Suns once again surpassed the Warriors by 3 points to take the lead in the score. At the crucial moment, Poole broke through to cause Booker to foul, he made two free throws and one shot, and the Warriors trailed by one point.
Crowder and Poole then both walked to the free throw line, and the two hit two free throws, and the Warriors still trailed by one point. Booker missed a shot, Poole walked to the free throw line again, he hit both free throws, and the Warriors rebounded by one point. Clay fouled, Booker hit two free throws, Green made a low-level mistake, the Suns got the ball again, Paul threw a shot, the Suns led to 3 points, and the game lost suspense. In the end, the Suns defeated the Warriors 107-103 to get nine consecutive wins, while the Warriors lost four consecutive games and slipped to 4th place in the West.
Poole was so good in this game, he had 38 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists in the whole game, 20+ points in 15 consecutive games, and this is also his fourth time this season to get 30+ points, in the past period, the youngster has played very brightly, many times become the team's offensive strength in the game. Wiggins also had 19 points and 8 rebounds in this game, Clara Crotch, he shot 5 of 21, 1 of 9 three-pointers to get 13 points, at the key moment of the game, his no-ball foul sent Booker to the free throw line, this game Clay performed badly.
On the Suns side, Booker scored 22 points, Paul had 15 points and 8 assists, Bridges had 22 points, Ayton had 16 points and 16 rebounds, and no one on the team got a high score, but played reasonably and played well overall, which was the main reason why they laughed to the end.
The Warriors' performance in this game was very good, and without Curry, they were able to play against the No. 1 Suns in the league until the final moments, which was better than in previous games. The team's performance on the defensive end was very good, they were very good at limiting the Suns' conversion offense, and at key moments, their play was also very eye-catching, able to bite the score. Unfortunately, the overall strength of the team is still not as good as the Suns, they have fewer scoring points at key moments, they can only rely on Poole to complete the offense, and there are many mistakes, which also led to the team eventually losing the game, after which the Warriors slipped to 4th in the West.