Steph Curry, Warriors pull away from Suns late to post Christmas Day win

Gilbert McGregor

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Steph Curry, Warriors pull away from Suns late to post Christmas Day win image

The two best teams in the NBA battled it out on Christmas Day when the Suns hosted the Warriors.

The Suns and Warriors are quite familiar with each other already, the Christmas Day game marked the third meeting between the two teams within the last month. 

On Nov. 30, the Suns defeated the Warriors by a final score of 104-96 to record their 17th straight victory, tying a franchise record. The Suns set the franchise record for consecutive wins by defeating the Pistons a few days later, only for the Warriors to bring an end to their streak on Dec. 3 with a comfortable 118-96 win.

Stephen Curry was two different players in those games. In Golden State's loss, he finished with 12 points on 4-for-21 shooting from the field. In Golden State's win, he scored a team-high 23 points on 8-for-20 shooting from the field.

Steph Curry set a new personal Christmas Day career-high of 33 points to help the Warriors win a fun matchup, 116-107. The Warriors got good contributions from Otto Porter Jr (10 points, six rebounds), Gary Payton Jr. (14 points, eight rebounds) and Jonathan Kuminga (12 points), while the Suns were led by Chris Paul (21 points, eight assists), DeAndre Ayton (18 points, seven rebounds) and Devin Booker (13 points, three assists). 

The Warriors win - their third consecutive - takes them back to the top of the Western Conference standings, half a game ahead of the Suns. 

MORE:  Will Curry's Christmas Day struggles continue?

The Sporting News tracked the matchup between the Suns and Warriors with live updates and highlights.

Follow for complete results.

MORE: Watch Warriors vs. Suns live with Sling TV

Warriors vs. Suns live updates, highlights from NBA Christmas game

Warriors vs. Suns on Christmas Day score
  1 2 3 4
Warriors 33 25 26 32
Suns 27 35 22 23

End of the fourth quarter: Warriors 116, Suns 107

Steph Curry 33 points, 6 assists

Otto Porter 19 points, 6 rebounds

Chris Paul 21 points, 8 assists

DeAndre Ayton 18 points, 7 rebounds

7:34 p.m. - Otto Porter has been incredible! 


7:21 p.m. - Jonathan Kuminga has been super impressive. 


7:15 p.m. - Steph Curry needs just one more made three-pointer for 3,000 in his career. 


7:11 p.m . - Both teams have found their offensive groove to start the fourth. Phoenix lead by one. 95-94

End of the third quarter: Suns 84, Warriors 84 

Steph Curry 23 points, 4 assists 

Gary Payton Jr. 14 points, 7 rebounds 

Chris Paul 16 points, 5 assists

Devin Booker 13 points, 3 assists

7:03 p.m . - COUNT IT D BOOK! 


6:57 p.m. - 9-0 run for the Suns. Cam Payne knocks down a three to give the Suns a three point lead.

6:54 p.m . - In today's surprising news, Steph Curry has scored 20+ points in a Christmas Day game for the first time EVER. 


6:50 p.m . "Kevon Looney is not good. He's not solid. He's great." - Steve Kerr on Looney pre-game. Warriors lead by six. Chris Paul has been called for a technical foul. 


6:40 p.m. - Suns still maintaining their four-point lead early in the third. 

End of the second Quarter: Suns 62, Warriors 58

Steph Curry 17 points, 4 assists 

Gary Payton Jr. 12 points, 3 rebounds 

Chris Paul 16 points, 4 assists 

DeAndre Ayton 14 points, 5 rebounds

6:19 p.m . - High scoring quarter comes to an end. Suns outscored the Dubs by ten to take a four-point lead into the halftime break.

6:12 p.m - Draymond Green has been assessed a technical foul and the Suns are in the midst of a 16-3 run. They're up 3. 

6:10 p.m . - D.Book wanted a Christmas Day game, and he's definitely showed up tonight. 


6:06 p.m. - All I want for Christmas is to shoot like Steph Curry


5:56 p.m . - This second quarter has quite a bit of pace to it now. Real up-and-down by both teams. 

5:50 p.m. - Kyle Kuzma wants you to know how good Draymond Green is. 


End of the First Quarter: Warriors 33, Suns 27 

Steph Curry 11 points 

Gary Payton Jr. 6 points 

Chris Paul 8 points

DeAndre Ayton 8 points 

5:45 p.m . -  End of the quarter. This is a fun one. Warriors lead the Suns 33-27.

5:36 p.m . - Draymond Green: Blocked Cam Johnson's 3 on a closeout, Led the ensuing break, and finds JTA for a layup. He's incredible. 


5:33 p.m . - GPII EXPLODING AT THE RIM 


5:28 p.m . - Steph just keeps adding to this record. 156 games and counting. 


5:22 p.m . - Steph is now five triples away from 3000


5:17 p.m.  — We're underway at the Footprint Center courtesy of a 3-pointer from Draymond Green.

Pregame

3:40 p.m.  — Add Andre Iguodala to the Warriors' injury report. The 18-year veteran is out Saturday with knee swelling.

3:30 p.m.  — Given their injury issues, the Warriors will roll with a starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.

12:30 p.m. — Damion Lee, Moses Moody, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and James Wiseman are each listed as out for the Warriors. Frank Kaminsky, Abdel Nader and Dario Saric are out for the Suns.

How to watch Warriors vs. Suns on Christmas Day

NBA Christmas Day schedule

The five games are split between ESPN and ABC. All times below are in Eastern Standard Time.

TV Schedule for NBA on Christmas
Time Matchup Channel
12:00 p.m. Hawks at Knicks ESPN
2:30 p.m. Celtics at Bucks ABC
5:00 p.m. Warriors at Suns ABC
8:00 p.m. Nets at Lakers ESPN
10:30 p.m. Mavericks at Jazz ESPN

You can stream all of the action on Sling TV .

Gilbert McGregor

Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor first joined The Sporting News in 2018 as a content producer for Global editions of NBA.com. Before covering the game, McGregor played basketball collegiately at Wake Forest, graduating with a Communication degree in 2016. McGregor began covering the NBA during the 2017-18 season and has been on hand for a number of league events.