Suns win 17th straight by beating Warriors 104-96
By Ashley Garner
The Suns won just 19 games during their rookie seasons. Now, they've tied a franchise record with 17 wins — in a row.
Ayton scored 24 points, Chris Paul added 15 points and 11 assists, and the Suns won their 17th straight by beating the Golden State Warriors 104-96 on Tuesday night in an early showdown between the NBA's top teams.
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The Suns won despite losing star guard Devin Booker to a left hamstring injury in the second quarter. He had 10 points and two rebounds in 15 minutes. The 25-year-old appeared to get hurt when driving to the basket for a layup, grabbing at the back of his left leg before walking to the locker room a few minutes before halftime.
without Booker, the Suns led 56-54 at halftime and 80-78 going into the fourth quarter. The game stayed tight, and neither team led by double digits until Landry Shamet knocked down a 3-pointer — on an assist by Paul — with 54.4 seconds left
The win was another milestone for the Suns, who have thrived with the young core of Ayton, Bridges and Booker. The final key piece came when they added Paul — an 11-time All-Star — before last season. Phoenix made the NBA Finals in July before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks, and now they're on a winning streak that's lasted more than month.
The two teams play again Friday night at Golden State
The game mostly lived up to the hype — at least until the Warriors, who had their seven-game winning streak snapped, went cold in the fourth quarter.
Jordan Poole led Golden State with 28 points. Stephen Curry — who came into the game averaging 28.6 points per game — had 12 points on 4 of 21 shooting, including 3 of 14 from 3-point range.
The Suns limited the Warriors to just 42 points in the second half. The Warriors also had 22 turnovers.
The Suns and Warriors are now both 18-3. The only other time Phoenix has won 17 straight games was during the 2006-07 season. They'll go for their franchise record 18th win against the Pistons on Thursday.