The Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns are coping with a stocking-full-of-coal holiday season.
Each has lost two in a row and four of six as they prepare for the first of a home-and-home set in Phoenix on Thursday. They will play Saturday in the Bay Area.
The Warriors’ 136-131 loss at Portland on Sunday, their eighth loss in 12 games, seemed particularly galling, inasmuch as they wasted Stephen Curry’s 48-point effort, one short of his season high.
The loss prompted a private email interaction later made public between Warriors owner Joe Lacob and a fan identified as Justin Dutari, who described himself as “frustrated” and also wrote that Jimmy Butler’s tools “are being underutilized.”
Lacob responded by writing, “You can’t be as frustrated as me. I am working on it. It’s complicated. Style of play. Coaches (sic) desires regarding players. League trends. Jimmy is not the problem.”
Lacob’s answer seemed to indicate some friction inside the organization. Golden State opened the season 4-1 but has fallen below .500 and to the brink of the playoff picture.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr, in his final year of his contract, called it “no big deal.”
“We’re all frustrated. Joe is frustrated. I’m frustrated,” said Kerr, who has won four NBA titles with Curry and Draymond Green as anchors since 2014-15.
“Joe supports me 100%. I support him. We have a great connection. We’ve had so much continuity here. Our stable environment in our organization is one of our strengths.”
The Warriors have used nine different starting lineups in the last nine games, five of which Curry (29.6 points per game) missed with a left quad contusion. Part-time starter Pat Spencer will not play against the Suns with an excused absence, and Al Horford (back) is also out.
Although both were losses, the Suns have played to extremes in their last two games – a franchise-record 49-point defeat in a 138-89 loss to Oklahoma City in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Dec. 10 and a 116-114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
After going 8:05 without scoring, the Suns overcame a 20-point deficit in the final 8:40 against the Lakers and went ahead 114-113 on Dillon Brooks’ 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left.
Brooks was given his second technical foul and ejected after chest-bumping LeBron James, who made two free throws after being fouled with three seconds left and blocked Grayson Allen’s step-through jumper in the final second.
“We just got outworked, from beginning till the fourth quarter,” said Suns guard Devin Booker, who had 27 points and seven assists in his return after missing three games with a groin injury.
“It can’t just be an on and off switch with us. They came in physical. They won the possession game by 14 or 15 possessions. We have to be better from the start.”
Brooks is averaging 21.6 points, on pace to shatter his full-season career high (17.2) with the Grizzlies in 2020-21.
“We love his emotion.” Suns coach Jordan Ott said after the loss to the Lakers. “We’re with him. He’s brought so much to the team, this city, this franchise. His energy, his passion, his hard work, his attitude.”
Suns guard Jalen Green (hamstring) remains out. He sustained the injury in training camp and played two games before re-injuring it.
