Without Steph Curry, the Warriors put up a valiant effort Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns, but ultimately fell 107-103 at Chase Center.
The Warriors found themselves down three with less than 10 seconds left when Jordan Poole brought the ball up the court and launched from half court. The shot clanged off the backboard and sealed Golden State's fate. After the loss, head coach Steve Kerr explained that the Suns baited the third-year guard into the shot, believing he was going to be fouled.
"Jordan was trying the Chris Paul trick," Kerr told reporters after the game. "Where, you know they are going to foul, so as they reach you go up, and they pulled back so they didn't foul him."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The Suns put Poole in a tough situation as the Warriors guard, who scored 38 in the loss, knew if he dribbled up the court any further he'd be fouled before he could go into his shooting motion.
"We were in the bonus and we were down three," Poole said after the game. "If I would have dribbled the ball up anymore they would have taken a foul, we would have shot two free throws and then we wouldn't have had a chance to get a three up. I just tried to get a look up.
"Probabaly get three free throws," Poole continued when asked what his aim was with the shot. "Obviously, I was shooting to make it. But they also come with a trap at the half-court line so there really wasn't much to do."
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors now have lost six of their last seven games without Curry and have dropped to the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference behind the Dallas Mavericks.
If the standings hold and the Warriors survive a first-round matchup with the Denver Nuggets or Utah Jazz, they'll likely see the Suns in the second round.
With five games remaining in the regular season, the Warriors are looking for positives as they skid toward the playoffs.
RELATED: Poole carries Dubs through pain in loss to Suns
"We've won way too much to have moral victories here," Draymond Green said Wednesday after the loss. "But I think tonight, we found ourselves. We found our competitive spirit, we found our defense, and that's something that we can build on. Now, Saturday's going to be a tough game and it's a meaningful game.
"We got to make sure we come out, play our brand of basketball and if we come out and do that -- play the same brand of basketball we did today -- cutdown 21 turnovers, we give ourselves a chance to win."