Warriors Show What They Can Do When Curry and Thompson Play Well

Stephen Curry was the story of the night. The Golden States Warriors point guard, who is on pace this year to easily set his career high in assists per game, had a career-best 16 assists in Friday’s win over the Phoenix Suns.

On top of his impressive assist total, Curry had 14 points and 13 rebounds (also a career high) for an impressive triple-double.

It all came together for the Warriors on offense, but their defense was what really impressed. Golden State held the Suns to 36 percent shooting while also forcing 17 turnovers. Phoenix’s shooting percentage would have been much lower had not Golden State's starters sat for the majority of the fourth quarter.

But that’s not to take away from the performance of Golden State's bench on Friday. In fact, the reserves had another solid outing to continue a trend that started a couple of games ago.

Draymond Green, as announcer Bob Fitzgerald described, “simply inhaled rebounds,” collecting six boards in addition to his 11 points off the bench. Harrison Barnes added 11 points and three steals.

The bench got its minutes, however, due to the play of the starters, who fired on all cylinders. Curry’s counterpart in the backcourt, Klay Thompson, was 9-of-11 from the field for a game-high 21 points, and David Lee added 17 points and seven rebounds.

Continuing with the success of the starters, Andre Iguodala had another solid game, connecting on three of his four shots; the Warriors are 5-1 since his return. Center Andrew Bogut also played well, hitting four of his eight shots while also recording three blocks.

The Dubs played an excellent all-around game, as their 32 assists led to eight different players scoring eight or more points. The only real blemish on the night was Curry’s shooting. He was just 5-of-17 from the field, including 1-of-6 from three-point range. But when one records career highs in rebounds and assists, shooting isn’t much of a concern.

With the win, the Warriors will head onto the road with a four-game winning streak. The combined record of their next eight opponents is 97-131. It’s all shaping up to be a big run for the Warriors, who can go into the season’s second half on a roll.

All statistics courtesy of ESPN.