Ricky Rubio hit two of Phoenix’s five 3-pointers in a 21-0, first-quarter run Wednesday as the Suns ran away from Golden State 121-110 in San Francisco on a night when the Warriors lost Stephen Curry to a broken left hand.
With the Warriors already down 83-54 in the fourth minute of the third period, Curry collided with Suns center Aron Baynes on a drive to the hoop and fell hard on his left arm.
The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player was taken immediately to the locker room, and the Warriors later announced he had broken his hand in the incident.
The Warriors have now endured major injuries to Kevin Durant (ruptured Achilles tendon), Klay Thompson (torn ACL) and Curry in their past six non-exhibition games, dating back to last spring’s NBA Finals. Durant left in the summer as a free agent, signing with the Brooklyn Nets.
“It’s a great opportunity for these young guys to play,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said postgame. “It’s also a little bit too much. You want to bring along rookies the best you can. We have no choice with all the injuries.
“Where we are, we might as well throw them into the frying pan.”
The game was already off to a nightmarish start for the five-time defending Western Conference champs, as the Suns turned a 10-9 deficit into a 30-10 lead with their flurry of threes in the first period.
Dario Saric, Baynes and Devin Booker also bombed in 3-pointers in the run, and Phoenix soon was ahead 39-11.
The Suns led 43-14 at quarter’s end and extended the margin to 34 in the second period before coasting home.
Still down 28 after three quarters, the Warriors got as close as 110-99 with 4:03 to play but never trimmed the difference under single digits.
Hitting six of his 10 3-point attempts, Booker led the Suns with 31 points.
Baynes totaled 24 points and 13 rebounds while Saric (16 points), Rubio (14), Cameron Johnson (12) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (11) also scored in double figures.
Winning for the third time in five games, the Suns shot 45.8 per cent overall and 15-for-36 (41.7 per cent) on 3-pointers.
Rookie Eric Paschall had 20 points to lead the Warriors, who fell to 0-2 at their new home, the Chase Center.
Glenn Robinson III added 17 points, D’Angelo Russell 15, Willie Cauley-Stein 12 in his season debut and Ky Bowman 10 for Golden State.
Shooting just 3-for-11 overall and 1-for-7 on 3-pointers, Curry totaled nine points in 21 minutes.
—Field Level Media
