{"id":462531,"date":"2026-02-06T15:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462531\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:49:17","slug":"warriors-cap-emotional-deadline-with-dramatic-win-over-suns-we-needed-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462531\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors cap emotional deadline with dramatic win over Suns: \u2018We needed that\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the <\/a>Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the \u201cSection 415″ podcast <\/a>wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PHOENIX \u2014 On Wednesday night, Warriors players scrolled on their phones, searching for a sense of certainty. They found out that three of their teammates were traded ahead of the next afternoon\u2019s deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They held a morning shootaround Thursday that Steve Kerr described as having a vibe of \u201csadness.\u201d Gary Payton II said it best: there\u2019s only one player in the organization who knew he was safe. Draymond Green, the four-time champion, didn\u2019t know if his life would be uprooted until the clock struck 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

This is a team that has been emotionally drained for weeks, since Jimmy Butler tore his ACL on Jan. 19. When the deadline dust settled, three key locker room presences were gone. Buddy Hield, one of the most treasured teammates in recent Warriors memory, and Jonathan Kuminga, who had skeptics within the organization but no enemies within the locker room, became Atlanta Hawks. Trayce Jackson-Davis, an affable, cordial everyman, joined the Toronto Raptors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a weird 24 hours,\u201d Green said. \u201cEverybody just kind of sitting on edge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the departures, the Warriors had to play a game. A matchup with the Suns, at least for the remaining Warriors, was a relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, rejoice. The Warriors took 55 3-pointers, erased a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit, and closed on a 10-0 run to cap a thrilling 101-97 road victory. On the game-sealing possession, De\u2019Anthony Melton stood up Dillon Brooks defensively, Gary Payton II snared a rebound in traffic, Al Horford saved the ball from going out of bounds, Moses Moody leapt for the loose ball, and Melton leaked out for the breakaway. An inactive Steph Curry led the bench brigade in storming the court, and a raucous celebration extended into the locker room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFelt like we won the championship,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cWe needed that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Relief. Rejoice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the postgame podium, some rebellion. Green is still a Warrior, and he doesn\u2019t want to hear about pundits writing them off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWho?\u201d Green said. \u201cThe people that don\u2019t be knowing what the hell they\u2019re talking about? Yes. Those are the same people that said we\u2019d never win because we shot too many jump shots and I was too small and everyone else was too small. Those same people? C\u2019mon man. I\u2019m going to keep it PG. Not going to say nothing wild today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Just hours before, Green was worried he could be traded. Kuminga and Hield netted Kristaps Porzingis. Jackson-Davis brought back a second-round pick. The Warriors aggressively pursued Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, putting Green on the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got nerve-wracking toward the end,\u201d Green said. \u201cIt is what it is. Move forward. It\u2019s not something I want to get used to, though.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

6 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Jan. 27<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Those relatively minor moves have a major impact on the locker room. Players reflected on the human aspect of going through an uneasy deadline like the Warriors just did. It\u2019s never a fun time of the season, they admitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hield was Curry\u2019s locker neighbor. He taught Kerr what the word \u201cblicky\u201d<\/a> means, and was the rare personality who could both give and take a joke from Butler.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody will be able to fill his shoes from a personality standpoint,\u201d guard Pat Spencer told The Standard. \u201cHe just brings a light and an energy every day. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever seen him have a bad day. I think everybody in here\u2019s going to miss that, for sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kuminga, the former seventh overall pick, remained well-liked in the locker room until the very end. It says a lot about his character that despite years of on-court strife and extracurricular drama<\/a>, his teammates never switched up on him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His relationship with Kerr was a question from the outside, as their basketball philosophies so clearly clashed. But they never had anything against each other personally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really hope JK finds his way, whether it\u2019s in Atlanta or wherever else,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cI really want to see him succeed, and I\u2019m sorry it didn\u2019t happen here. We all take ownership of that. Definitely things I could\u2019ve done better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jackson-Davis was Payton\u2019s poker partner. Anyone could saunter over to his locker to chop it up. You\u2019d be hard-pressed to find a negative word he ever said, even as his playing time diminished after his rookie season. He, Spencer, two-way players and others out of Kerr\u2019s rotation spent hours and hours competing in the \u201cdungeon,\u201d Golden State\u2019s basement practice facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Suddenly, they had to pack their bags. There were new jersey colors, new area codes, new coaches, new digs awaiting them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the weirdest things about this profession is that you become really close with someone, and you\u2019re with them everyday, literally, all day,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cMaybe for a season, maybe for two or three years, maybe for longer, and then all of the sudden it\u2019s just [over].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The roster turnover was a similar situation to last season, when the Warriors shipped out beloved champion Andrew Wiggins. Only then, Golden State was getting Butler, a six-time All-Star. Now, they\u2019re adding Porzingis, who has played just 17 games this season. Butler gave them a swagger, a hope, last deadline. Now he\u2019s injured, and genuine playoff contention is lost<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just don\u2019t tell Green.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTry to give ourselves a shot at a playoff spot,\u201d Green said when asked about his expectations for the rest of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can give yourself a shot at it, we know how to do it. I think that\u2019s a skill that probably 97% of the NBA does not have. They don\u2019t know how to do it. We actually know how. So we just want to give ourselves a shot at it. We gave ourselves a shot at it last year, Steph doesn\u2019t go down, who knows what happens?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AGui Santos scored 18 points and dished out seven assists against Phoenix. | Source: Rick Scuteri\/Associated Press<\/p>\n

The odds are stacked against them. But there are ways to win after being dealt a poor hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Against Phoenix, the Warriors jacked up 3-pointer after 3-pointer; 20 of their first 23 field goal attempts came from distance. They attempted 37 3s in the first half, an NBA record. Tilting the math in their direction is a necessity now, as their best athletes in Butler and Kuminga are out of the equation.<\/p>\n

They played extremely hard defensively, jumping passing lanes, swarming ball-handlers, and matching Brooks\u2019 patented physicality. Gui Santos flashed improved off-the-bounce creation, dishing out a career-high seven assists. Spencer nailed five 3-pointers, chirping after each one. Melton ran the show; the Warriors won his minutes by 21 points. Horford punished smaller mismatches in the post like his former Boston teammate, Porzingis, does so efficiently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Horford said he\u2019d texted with Porzingis, who\u2019s excited to join the group in Los Angeles (he isn\u2019t expected to debut on Saturday against the Lakers, though). The veteran center is the ideal frontcourt pairing for Green, as someone who can protect the rim and space out deep behind the 3-point arc offensively.<\/p>\n

The postgame scene in the locker room couldn\u2019t have been more different than the ominous mood at 11 a.m. shootaround in the same arena. Neither involved Kuminga, Jackson-Davis, or Hield. A huge win was nice for the group, but it didn\u2019t change that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou saw the emotion there at the end,\u201d Horford said. \u201cSteph, Draymond, everybody. Like, it was a lot\u2026It\u2019s a really big win for our group. I know it\u2019s the regular season, but for everything that just went down, and for us, obviously, losing some of our guys that have been here \u2013 JK, Buddy, and Trayce \u2014 and be able to come out and get this win, it\u2019s special for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,7901,5552,590,85,58049],"class_list":{"0":"post-462531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-draymond-green","11":"tag-golden-state-warriors","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-steve-kerr"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}