SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 02: Brandin Podziemski #2 of the Golden State Warriors goes up for a layup against the Phoenix Suns in the second half of their game at Chase Center on November 02, 2026 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images Sean Keane Tue, November 3, 2026 at 8:11 AM UTC · 8 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Golden State Warriors season doesn't truly begin until Draymond Green gets kicked out of a game. This year, they have Charles Bassey to pick up the slack.
Bassey scored a career-high 19 points and collected eight rebounds, holding down the fort inside as the Warriors erased a 17-point deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns, 116-113. Golden State put up 42 points in the third quarter, Steph Curry exceeded 30 points for the third straight game, and De'Anthony Melton made two huge defensive plays late to lock down the victory.
Let's get the ejection out of the way early. It's become exhausting to write about Green losing control on the court, which coincidentally tends to happen when he's playing badly or the Warriors are losing. Early in the third quarter, Green took exception to contact from second-year Suns center Khaman Maluach, which left him on the ground. To be honest, it looked like Green was flopping for a call.
Green jumped up, grabbed Maluach around the waist, and threw him to the ground. When his longtime nemesis Dillon Brooks ran in to defend his teammate, Green grabbed Brooks by the jersey and jammed a fist into the side of his neck. The result? One technical foul for Brooks, and two for Green, which meant his 23rd regular-season ejection (he's been kicked out of two playoff games and suspended for two more). He finished with four points, four rebounds, and two assists.
Brooks claimed he was running in to de-escalate the situation, something Brooks is known for never, ever doing, but he really wasn't in the wrong there. I've watched the replay multiple times and I strongly support anyone who would grab Draymond and yell, "What are you doing?" at him. There's no word that Maluach was injured in the altercation, but he also didn't really play afterward.
After the game, Curry said Green's ejection "lit a fire beneath us," but what lit up the Warriors right away was Bassey's energy. They missed their first two shots after Green's ejection, but Bassey tipped in a miss and drew a foul, then found Curry for one of his four third-quarter triples.
Bassey scored six points in the quarter and 10 after halftime, getting to the line for five free throws and making four. He was opportunistic, setting screens and rolling hard to the rim while also taking advantage of mismatches with smaller Suns defenders.
Of course, Steph Curry scoring 18 points in the quarter was a pretty big factor as well. He shot 6-for-9 in nine minutes, putting up double-digit points in the third quarter for the third time in his last four games (he had 8 in the other one). In the four games Curry played during the Warriors' five-game winning streak, he's scored 55 points in the third quarter, perhaps because he's gone back to his old habit of reading critical tweets about his first-half performance during halftime.
Graham Ike played seven minutes and twenty-three seconds Monday night and did not record a single stat. That's officially known as a "7 trillion," with the seven referring to Ike's minutes, followed by 12 consecutive zeroes in the other categories. He was -1 in those seven minutes, which means that while Ike did not have an individual moment statistically regarded for posterity, at least he didn't foul, turn the ball over, or get in the way of better players. Plus, he had a sweet hockey assist on Curry's corner three.
Curry finally missed a free throw in the final seconds of the game, one that could have iced the game, but it's hard to judge him too harshly when he started the season 51-for-51. Curry is also averaging 8.7 free throw attempts per game, which is 37% more than his previous single-season high. Maybe the referees are finally showing some respect to the baby-faced assassin Dangerfield.
The Warriors got Green and Curry back after they sat out Sunday's win over the L.A. Clippers, while Will Richard made his first start of the season in place of the injured Gui Santos and the too-slow-to-guard-Devin-Booker Georges Niang. Or Steve Kerr simply wanted The Minivan to run all over the Suns' reserves, as he did by shooting 5-for-6 and putting up 13 points, finishing +20 in his 23 minutes.
It was a rough start, mainly because the Warriors kept settling for, and missing, three-pointers, finishing 2-for-15 from behind the arc in the quarter. A typical slow Warriors start involves a lot of turnovers, reckless fouling, or indifferent defense, but this one was simple: They could not buy a bucket, even with just two turnovers. It could have been worse, but Bassey drew some fouls and hustled his way to seven points.
Phoenix blocked the Warriors' first three-point attempts of the second quarter, meaning they started the game going 2-for-17 from deep. After a Miles Bridges three, Phoenix led by 17 points with 8:29 to play. Even after Yaxel Lendeborg made two threes, Phoenix was still up by 16 points with 3:45 to go in the quarter. After Devin Booker (26 points) hit a short jumper, Kerr called timeout, Curry and Green came back in the game, and ESPN declared the Suns had a win probability of 88.6%. Do they do election predictions?
The Suns wouldn't make a field goal the rest of the half, as Brandin Podziemski (20 points) led a 12-0 run that got the Warriors firmly back into the game (Suns win probability down to 62.3%). Kerr also won a challenge after Curry forced a turnover and the referees awarded Phoenix the ball, which was reversed and turned into a Curry bucket on the ensuing inbounds play.
Golden State finally tied the game in the third quarter on a Curry bucket, but didn't take the lead until early in the 4th, on a bucket from (who else?) Bassey.
The game went back and forth throughout the final quarter. The Warriors led by as many as seven points, then lost their lead, and finally went ahead for good on a Niang three-pointer with under four minutes to go. The rest of the way, they did it with defense.
Curry stole the ball from Booker. Melton stole the ball from Jalen Green. Then, with the Warriors clinging to a five-point lead, Melton drew an offensive foul on Booker, his sixth. Not a great closing effort for Booker, who had the same number of turnovers as points in the 4th: Two.
The Warriors made it interesting, of course. After Booker's ejection, Lendeborg blocked a Jalen Green layup out of bounds, but the Suns got a dunk after inbounding the ball. With 20 seconds left, Curry traveled, and the Suns, who were out of timeouts, cut the lead to a single point on Green's dunk. But Curry made two free throws, Green missed the rim entirely trying to miss on purpose, and Collin Gillespie's last-gasp 37-footer missed at the buzzer.
Curry is always the MVP of this team, but honorable mentions for Monday go to Bassey, Podz, and the security guy who dragged Draymond to the bench before he could start throttling Brooks' windpipe.
Brooks had 18 points, with four turnovers. Jalen Green had eight assists, with four turnovers. Miles Bridges had 21 points and four steals and remains a domestic abuser who has no place in the NBA. However, he did only turn the ball over once.
It was a big win for the Warriors, who didn't win five straight for all of last season. It was also a big win for Warriors assistant coach Frank Vogel, who has seen the Dubs defeat the two most recent NBA teams to fire him within four nights. You're next, Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers! They didn't want you, Frank!
More accurately, the Miami Heat are next, coming to town on Thursday. I have a feeling Draymond Green won't be in uniform for that one.
Source: Sports
