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There was a bear chasing me through the woods tonight. Every time I looked behind me, there’d be the bear. I’d run faster, but the bear just kept coming. No matter how hard I ran, I just could not outrun that bear, and eventually I felt its claws rip into my back, Revenant-style. It knocked me to the ground and began attacking. I tried to fight it off, hitting it in the nose and poking at its eyes, but nothing fazed it. Then the bear raised its giant paw and took a swipe at my head, but before it connected, I was jolted awake.
It took me a moment to realize I had fallen asleep just after the 3rd quarter started. I checked the score and saw that the Phoenix Suns were back down by 24 points.
I pondered it a bit, then decided to close my eyes and see what the bear was up to.
However, duty called, and I was forced to open my eyes and follow along as the Golden State Warriors turned a close game at the half into a blowout by the start of the 4th quarter, ultimately ending in a 138-109 loss for the Suns.
Stephen Curry proved to be a one-man wrecking crew in the 3rd quarter, scoring 20 of his team-high 31 points in the period to help the Warriors go up 108-84 through three quarters after leading 66-57 through the 1st half. That supported the work of teammate Klay Thompson, who led the Warriors with 16 points through the first two quarters and finished with 26.
In fact, Phoenix struggled all night to limit Golden State’s effectiveness on offense. The Warriors shot 62.8 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from behind the 3-point arc — that field goal percentage being the worst they’ve allowed since Feb. 22, 2009 to the Boston Celtics.
Eric Bledsoe led Phoenix with 27 points — 20 of which came in the 1st half. However, he didn’t have much help. Even with Devin Booker finishing with 21 points and another 14 points from Brandon Knight, the team as a whole couldn’t generate enough offense to compensate for their inability to slow the Warriors. Phoenix did, however, finish with 24 assists.
On rookie watch, Dragan Bender got extended playing time, matching up with Kevin Durant for stretches and finishing with 10 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes. Marquese Chriss scored 11 points in 25 minutes, and Tyler Ulis even chipped in four points and two assists in 12 minutes of action.