Play.
The person strikes a pose after hitting a step-back 3.
Curry drills a step-back 3-pointer over Payne. (0:29)
12:57 AM
The Phoenix Suns' 18-game winning streak is over. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors made sure of that by beating the Suns 118-96 on Friday night.
As the streak came to an end, Suns coach Monty Williams expressed pride in the way his group carried itself over the past month.
"I think every win is special," Williams said after the loss, which brought the Suns' record to 19-4, second-best in the NBA behind the Warriors. It was the collective focus that we've had throughout the season. It has only been 23 games. There is a lot of basketball to be played, but when we were 1-3, there was no panic. We simplified things and played good basketball.
I think we're playing good basketball. We played the best team in the league tonight. We don't know who it is. It's good to be in that category.
It was Curry who set the tone for the Warriors, finishing with 23 points, five rebound and five assists to avenge his poor performance in Tuesday's loss to the Suns.
Curry is just 28 away from passing Ray Allen at the top of the all-time 3-point list. He admitted that it was nice to end the Suns' streak.
Curry said that they lost to them already. You don't want them to keep coming into your building. It's nice to protect your home court, but it doesn't mean much. We've had a good home record and nice streak going ourselves in this building, so we'd rather keep ours than let theirs go.
The Warriors got a huge lift from their bench that scored 51 points, and they were able to overcome Curry's brilliance and 19 points from Andrew Wiggins. The crowd roared as replays played on the video board of Juan Toscano- Anderson's second-quarter dunk over JaVale McGee. Gary Payton II had 19 points and five rebound.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Suns never found the kind of rhythm on either end of the floor that helped define their winning streak. The Suns were led by center Deandre Ayton, who had a team-high 23 points, but they faded down the stretch against a Warriors group that was hungry to prove they could end the streak. Payne was 3-for-17 from the field.
The Warriors and Suns won't see each other again until Christmas Day in Phoenix, a clash that might have not only Booker back, but former All-Star Klay Thompson, who has been out for two and a half years.
Chris Paul said the winning streak was fun. It has been a long time since we felt a loss. Let's start a new one.
