Led by Mikal Bridges, Suns restrict Stephen Curry to worst shooting night of his career

Looking at the trends through the early part of the season, Tuesday night’s Suns-Warriors was circled as the marquee game to watch. 

It was a contest between two of the top teams in the league with the Warriors at 18-2 while the Suns, at 17-3, were riding a 16-game winning streak. 

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Golden State rode Jordan Poole’s hot first quarter when he scored 16 of his game-high 28 points, however down the stretch, the Suns made it a no contest despite missing Devin Booker in the second half. 

They did so with their defense. Led by Mikal Bridges, they held MVP frontrunner Stephen Curry to the worst shooting night of his career when he attempts at least 20 shots. 

Coming into this game, Curry was averaging a league-leading 28.6 points on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 42.3 percent from long distance on a career-high 5.5 makes. In this game, he looked like a shell of those numbers.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, this was the 329th time Curry had attempted at least 20 shots but it was the first time that he shot lesser than 20 percent (4-of-21).

On the other hand, Bridges just scored two points for the game but it was one of the most impactful performances of the game as he recorded four steals and a block with his primary assignment on Curry. 

This performance comes a couple of nights after the Suns played the Nets in Brooklyn, a game in which he recorded his career-high of seven steals. 

“We lucky to have a guy like Mikal Bridges on our team who defends every night ” Suns point guard Chris Paul said postgame. “Selfless, makes all winning plays man.”

Fortunately for us, these two teams which provided a great game in Phoenix play once again in three nights on Friday in San Francisco. 

Will Curry bounce back with an explosion in front of the Warriors faithful at the Chase Center or will the Suns extend their impressive win streak and grab another statement win to go 2-0 against Golden State? Get your popcorn ready. 

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