The Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors faced off in their first heavyweight bout of the week on Tuesday evening at Footprint Arena. The Suns entered the game on a 16-game winning streak and the second-best record in the NBA. The Warriors entered with the best record in the league at 18-2, sitting atop the Western Conference.
After Tuesday’s game, there is now a tie atop the Western Conference. The Suns defeated the Warriors 104-96, running their winning streak to 17 games with identical 18-3 records. It was the first time all season that the Warriors were held under 100 points scored as the Suns made everything difficult for them.
The biggest takeaway from the game was the shooting performance of Stephen Curry. Curry had come into Tuesday’s matchup on fire, knocking down over 50 percent of his 3-point attempts in the previous six games. Against the Suns, he struggled mightily.
Curry shot 4-of-21 from the field and 3-of-14 from the 3-point line en route to a 12-point performance. It was the worst shooting night of his career in which he attempted at least 20 shot attempts.
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It takes a team effort to slow down Curry and the Warriors, who move the ball effortlessly and always seem to find the open man. But, a lot of credit needs to be given to Mikal Bridges, who is cementing his status among the game’s elite defenders one game at a time.
Bridges had a stifling defensive performance against the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend, defending both James Harden and Kevin Durant. His performance against them was excellent, but what he did to Curry may be his crown jewel thus far in his career.
If you went into a laboratory and created the perfect defender, it very well could be Bridges. He has incredible length, lateral quickness, intelligence and motor that lead to some remarkable things being done on the defensive end of the ball.
His relentlessness is what provided one of the highlights of the game. The Warriors finally forced a switch on their last possession of the first half, which got Bridges off of Curry. Not to be deterred, Bridges made an impressive play to block Curry’s layup attempt.
Mikal Bridges made Stephen Curry work all night and his effort paid off in a Phoenix Suns win. Despite scoring only two points in the game, Bridges was the Suns’ MVP for setting the tone defensively and helping slow down the high-powered Golden State Warriors attack. He did finish the game with four steals and one block.
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In a high-profile game on national television, Bridges showed why he is among the best defensive players in the entire NBA. In a game against Draymond Green, who is on a mission to win the Defensive Player of the Year award and show he is still the best defender in the league, Bridges showed that he will have some competition in that category this season.
