Cameron Payne on Wednesday had a career-high 29 points, while Devin Booker added 27 as the Phoenix Suns easily overcame Stephen Curry’s 50-point night to beat the struggling Golden State Warriors 130-119, with all five Suns starters scoring in double figures.
Booker stepped back for a three-pointer in the closing minute of the third quarter as Curry gamely tried to stay with him, putting a hand in his face.
Booker made the shot anyway as a frustrated Curry dropped his head.
Photo: AFP
No matter how many points the Warriors superstar scored, the Suns came right back with an answer.
“It’s important to have a team,” Booker said about the balanced production. “That gives you longevity and will get us through a season.”
The Suns controlled most of the game despite Curry’s scoring. The eight-time All-Star made 17 of 28 shots, going seven of 11 from three-point range.
Photo: AFP
The problem for the Warriors was nobody else was helping. Klay Thompson finished with 19 points, but shot just six of 17.
The Warriors — defending NBA champions — fell to 6-9 for the season, including 0-8 on the road.
Curry did not have much to say about his 50 points, instead focusing on the team’s struggles.
Photo: AFP
“Losing becomes a habit if you don’t fix it,” Curry said. “We avoided that for a very long time. We are very aware of who we are and our potential. The losing does get old really quick.”
“I think for right now, we are just scattered,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s a pickup game. It’s a pickup game out there.”
Curry’s scoring prowess is expected, but it was countered by one of the best games of Payne’s career. Starting in place of the injured Chris Paul, the 1.91m guard made nine of 17 shots, including six of 10 from beyond the arc.
Coach Monty Williams praised Payne’s play, but also criticized the guard’s late-game decisions, including picking up a flagrant foul.
“Cam can score the ball and he had seven assists to go with it, but in closing moments, he has to be better,” Williams said. “We don’t need all that silliness at the end of games.”
The Suns led 103-89 going into the fourth quarter. The Warriors quickly cut into that margin, but could not get closer than eight points. Damion Lee hit back-to-back three-pointers against his former team to keep the Suns comfortably ahead.
The Suns shot 21 of 40 (52.5 percent) from three-point range and had 33 assists. Mikal Bridges had 23 points and a career-high nine assists. Torrey Craig added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
It was a frenetic first half, with the shooting of both teams going well — particularly behind the arc.
The Suns led 72-65 at the break, with Curry scoring 31 points.
Payne had 18 for the Suns and Booker had 16.
Curry was at his best in the first half, making 10 of 13 shots from the field, including four of five three-pointers.
He came into the game averaging about 31 points per game and hit that mark with a free throw near the end of the second quarter.
“Steph is going to have Steph moments,” Williams said.
In Atlanta, Georgia, the undermanned Boston Celtics got 22 points from Jaylen Brown and stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 126-101 road victory against the Atlanta Hawks.
Boston’s thin backcourt resulted in more minutes for point guard Derrick White, who finished the game with 16 points and 10 assists. Jayson Tatum contributed 19 points.
Trae Young had 27 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Hawks.
Dejounte Murray added 19 points for the Hawks, who scored the game’s first basket then did not have the lead after that.
In other games, it was:
‧ Bucks 113, Cavaliers 98
‧ Hornets 113, Pacers 125
‧ Magic 108, Timberwolves 126
‧ Mavericks 92, Rockets 101
‧ Nuggets 103, Knicks 106
‧ Pelicans 124, Bulls 110
‧ Raptors 112, Heat 104
‧ Wizards 120, Thunder 121
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS