“Felt like we won the championship!”: Curry-less Warriors shock Suns after erasing 14-point deficit

The Golden State Warriors’ struggles this season are not hidden from anyone, but nights like this serve as a reminder that the championship DNA doesn’t just disappear. The Warriors overcame a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Suns 101-97 on Thursday night at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Despite playing without superstar Stephen Curry (knee), the team executed a late-game point surge that left Phoenix stunned. With this victory, Golden State has moved to a 28-24 record, while the Suns fell to 31-21.

Steve Kerr praises Warriors’ comeback win over Suns

The contest between Golden State and Suns shifted dramatically in the final stretch of the game despite Warriors' halftime lead of 59-55. Phoenix took control in the third quarter and dropped 27 points while holding the Warriors to just 17.

In the 4th quarter, Sun extended their lead to 90-76, but their momentum broke when they failed to handle the defensive pressure in the final minutes. A layup by De'Anthony Melton tied the score at 97-97 with 55.8 seconds left, followed by a fast-break layup from Gui Santos with 28.7 seconds on the clock. Suns Dillon Brooks missed the three-point attempt in the last 12 seconds, giving Warriors the opportunity to secure the rebound and drop in another fast break layup to finalize the score at 101-97.

During the post-game conference, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr praised the team’s resilience, "It felt like a great team win, where everybody fought, competed, and stayed with it.”"It’s just a beautiful thing to watch. It felt like we won the championship. We needed that,” added Kerr, while highlighting the emotional importance of the win for a team battling with various issues one after another.

Warriors vs Suns key performances

For Golden State, Pat Spencer led the team with a career-high 20 points, with 6 rebounds and 4 assists while hitting 6-10 from the arc.

Supporting Pat is Gui Santos, who contributed 18 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds, and went 6-9 from the floor. De'Anthony Melton also added 17 points. The Warriors finished the night with 38-of-82 from the floor and 16-of-43 from the three-point line. For the Suns, Dillon Brooks led in scoring with 24 points and 6 rebounds and hit 10-of-24 from the floor, of which 2-of-6 were three pointers. Grayson Allen added another 21 points with 5 rebounds, 4 assist and 1 steal. Despite Warriors (15) registering more turnovers than Suns (12), the energy pump in the last few minutes changed the entire trajectory of the game. They now look ahead to a Saturday matchup against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, where the newly acquired Porzingis is also expected to make his debut.