Golden State Warriors bench was major difference in win over Suns

The Golden State Warriors took down the Phoenix Suns, and it was because of their strong bench performances.

Players like Juan Toscano-Anderson and Gary Payton III, with James Wiseman, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala all sidelined, stepped up in a big way. Their contributions are what helped the Warriors down the red-hot Suns.

There were a few critical differences that helped the Warriors destroy the Phoenix Suns, and one of them was the 17-point difference in bench scoring.

The Suns entered on an 18-game win streak, defeating the Pistons on Wednesday and the Warriors the Tuesday prior. Even without Devin Booker, they were thriving. Booker was injured against Golden State earlier in the week.

His absence was crucial, but Thompson and Wiseman haven’t played a game this season. When these two teams meet on Christmas Day, the two may look a good bit different. However, much of the roster will remain the same.

For Golden State, they’ll likely keep most of their bench still in the rotation even with those two back. After a performance like this one from Payton II and Toscano-Anderson, head coach Steve Kerr will have no choice but to keep giving them minutes.

Payton II ended with 19 points, the most of any bench player. He was 3-for-5 from deep as well. Couple that with Juan Toscano-Anderson who put up 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting, and the duo outscored the entire Suns’ bench.

Getting contributions from those players was key in this game. On top of those two, Nemanja Bjelica ended the game with 8 points. Damion Lee had 4 and Otto Porter Jr. finished with 3 to round out the team’s bench scoring.

The Suns had one player on their second unit hit double figures, Cam Johnson. But, even he didn’t shoot over 50% from the field. Overall, their bench didn’t meet the same level of Golden State and that ended up partially costing them the game.

Golden State will be back in action tonight, again at home, welcoming the San Antonio Spurs. Hopefully, they’ll get another dominant bench performance and continue to increase their win streak.