Warriors fall in Phoenix 102-91

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PHOENIXThe Warriors played their first road game of the season on Monday, and let the game against the Suns get away late. All in all, the Warriors couldnt make up for the loss of David Lee, who missed the game because of illness, and the play of Stephen Curry, foul-plagued much of the game.Suns 102, Warriors 91Star of the game: Steve Nash. He certainly wasnt spectacular, but he did enough to help the Suns win the game. His 3-pointer with 2:23 remaining gave the Suns an 11-point lead and was pretty much the official dagger. Nash finished with 21 points and nine assists, including 13 points in the fourth period.Key stretch: After the Warriors ripped off eight straight points to start the second halfand go up 55-51things came apart. The Suns then went on a 19-6 run, which was fueled in some part by the absence of Curry, who sat most of the quarter after picking up his fourth foul.Curry played just 23 minutes, finishing with 10 points, two assists and five fouls, at least two of the needless variety.Gambling, is how Warriors coach Mark Jackson answered when asked about the foul trouble. Hes got to be smarter. Youre a key player and you pick up an early foul or two fouls and you have to make the adjustment. You cant pick up another one, and hes done that and its hurt us.Reboundingturnover issues: The Warriors defense wasnt bad, holding the Suns to 44.8 percent shooting from the field. But it was two old enemies that bit Golden State on Monday: Rebounding and turnovers.The Warriors committed 17 turnovers, leading to 18 Suns points and were outrebounded 49-36.Disappointing loss, Jackson said. You shoot 50 percent on the road and you should come out with a win. You put teams on the foul line, you turn the basketball over and you give them 16 offensive rebounds, thats a recipe for disaster.Jackson irked: Jackson didnt single any player out by name, but you got the feeling he wasnt happy with some of his players.Said Jackson: I understand its a process, but its a 66-game season and we need to speed up the process. I will find guys that are playing well, competing and executing the game plan. And if that means playing five guys 48 minutes, I will. They will tell me how many guys should play by their performance. Just a disappointing loss.
No Lee: For the third consecutive game, the Warriors were without a key starter in a game. Lee missed Mondays game with an illness. He spent part of the day at a hospital, getting an IV.On Wednesday, the Warriors played without point guard Stephen Curry because of a sprained right ankle. On Saturday, they were missing shooting guard Monta Ellis, who was back in Mississippi at his grandmothers funeral.Ellis finished with 18 points and 11 assists.We missed David, but you have to go out there and do it, Ellis said. We did an excellent job. We played great defense. We just couldnt get the rebounds and they made shots at the end of the game.Road gets tougher: The Warriors entered Mondays game having lost 12 in a row in Phoenix to the Suns. Next up are the Spurs on Wednesday in San Antonio, a place where the Warriors have lost 26 straight times. Then its the Lakers on Friday, where the Warriors have lost 15 of their past 16.

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