Top Takeaways from Warriors' Loss vs. Devin Booker, Suns with Steph Curry out
The Golden State Warriors are in free-fall mode in the Western Conference standings.
The Warriors lost their fourth game in a row and seventh game in the last eight on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.
Wednesday's loss dropped the Warriors down to the No. 4 seed behind the Dallas Mavericks, which opens up the possibility of playing the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals.
Golden State received yet another strong performance out of Jordan Poole, who led all scorers with 38 points.
However, Klay Thompson went 5-for-21 from the field and 1-for-10 from three-point range and only Andrew Wiggins scored over 15 points to join Poole.
Golden State has five games left to fix the issues that have plagued the team without Stephen Curry on the floor.
All of those five contests come against teams beneath the Warriors in the standings and they must take advantage of that run of games to feel somewhat comfortable about their playoff position.
Warriors' Loss Dropped Them in Standings
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Golden State could see Phoenix in a few weeks if it does not pull itself out of its current rut.
The Warriors have been in a free fall since Stephen Curry went out of the March 16 contest with the Boston Celtics.
Steve Kerr set the Warriors up in the best position possible to beat the Suns on Wednesday since he sat Klay Thompson and Draymond Green for Monday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the back end of a five-game road trip.
The Warriors were unable to beat the top seed in the West with its two healthy stars rested and on the floor. That dropped the team down to fourth place in the standings beneath the Dallas Mavericks.
Golden State has a handful of games left to recover the No. 3 seed and avoid the Suns until the Western Conference Finals.
However, that task will not be easy with the final three games of the regular season coming against the three franchises fighting for the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds.
Golden State could take advantage of a struggling Utah Jazz team without Bojan Bogdanovic on Saturday at home and it needs to beat the Sacramento Kings on Sunday in the second part of a back-to-back set.
Dallas plays its next three games on the road, but two of them come against the Washington Wizards and a banged-up Cleveland Cavaliers squad.
The Mavericks' toughest game left comes on Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks. They finish with the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs at home.
Even if the Warriors reverse their current form, they may not be able to recover the No. 3 seed from Dallas because of the easy schedule facing Luka Doncic and Co.
Jordan Poole Continued Impressive Star Turn
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Jordan Poole reeled off 38 points to keep the Warriors competitive on Wednesday night.
The 2019 first-round pick produced his 15th straight 20+-point game. He finished March with an average of 25.4 points per game.
Stat Muse went into detail on Poole's transformation into a go-to scorer for the Warriors in the last two seasons.
Poole shot 49.5 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three-point range in March. He also chipped in 4.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds per contest in the last month.
Poole's progression is important for the Warriors with or without Stephen Curry going into the postseason.
With Curry, Poole can be the top scorer off the bench and likely the best shooter on the second units on either team in a postseason series.
Without Curry, Poole provides Golden State with the scoring volume necessary to complement Klay Thompson and compete for a series victory.
Scoring Depth Was Not Good Enough
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Golden State had three of its starters and one bench player reach double figures.
Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson combined for 32 points behind Poole's 38 points out of the starting five.
Gary Payton II chipped in 10 points off the bench over 21 minutes, which was a nice boost to an average performance from the starters.
Phoenix had all five of its starters reach double digits and three of its four bench players chipped in six or eight points.
Golden State's significant disadvantage came in the paint, where Draymond Green and Kevon Looney combined for 10 points.
Phoenix had a 52-34 advantage in paint points and it lost the bench point battle by a single point to the home side inside Chase Center.
Golden State needs a more well-rounded scoring approach to deal with some of the top teams in the Western Conference when the playoffs begin.
The Warriors would benefit from Curry's return, and if he does not come back before the postseason begins, they need to work on that issue over the final five games to avoid a first-round exit.
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