PHOENIX — Referee Scott Foster ejected Chris Paul with just 23 seconds remaining in the first half, capping off a second quarter collapse that led to the Warriors’ 123-115 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. The Warriors fall to 7-9.
Leading up to Paul’s ejection, the Warriors turned the ball over six times and the Suns capitalized to take a 16-point halftime lead. The bench unit led by a mix of Dario Saric, Cory Joseph, Brandin Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Moses Moody, Gui Santos and Jonathan Kuminga chipped away at a Suns 23-point lead, eventually cutting the deficit to three points in the last minute of the game.
Podziemski finished a team-high plus-20 with 10 points, three steals and four rebounds.
But Coach Steve Kerr opted to keep Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and the starters on the bench for the remainder of the game and the Warriors didn’t have enough juice to overcome the deficit.
Kerr pulled the plug on the starters mid-way through the fourth quarter. Thompson had a season-high 23 points in 25 minutes on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, including a season-high 6-of-10 from 3. Curry had 16 points with one 3-pointer made on eight attempts. Andrew Wiggins had 11 points in 25 minutes.
The Warriors return home to play the San Antonio Spurs and rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama for an in-season tournament game on Friday, then hit the road again to close in-season tournament group play against the Kings in Sacramento. They play the Los Angeles Clippers twice, once at home and once on the road.