Basket Ball / Sports

Warriors’ lethal three-guard lineup overwhelms Denver in Game 2 rout

Here are three takeaways from Game 2 on Monday night, when the Warriors cranked up their crazy show, tossed in a little Harlem Globetrotters flair and rolled to a 126-106 victory over Denver to take a 2-0 series lead:

• The lethal lineup: Once again, head coach Steve Kerr closed the first half with his small-ball, three-guard lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole with forwards Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins.

Once again, this quintet made Denver head coach Michael Malone’s head spin.

The Warriors trailed 43-35 when Thompson replaced Otto Porter Jr. with 6:02 left in the second quarter. Soon, the game exploded into a blur of wide-open driving lanes, crazy passes and acrobatic layups.

Here’s the thing: The Warriors didn’t blitz the Nuggets with an avalanche of 3-point shots. They spread the court and scared the Nuggets with the threat of an avalanche of 3-point shots — and then scurried to the basket, time after crowd-energizing time.

Kerr’s lethal lineup outscored Denver 22-7 over a span of five-plus minutes. The Warriors led 57-50 when Kevon Looney subbed out Green with 46 seconds left before halftime (between Nikola Jokic free throws). One key to the equation, as Green pointed out after Sunday’s practice: This lineup must get stops on defense. And that’s exactly what happened Monday night. He made sure Curry and Co. were engaged defensively — Green tends to demand his teammates’ attention — and those stops sparked the game-turning run.

If the lethal lineup keeps playing defense like this, well, we’re going to see more of it. A lot more.

• Steph the enforcer: Curry added a new skill to his repertoire late in the first quarter when he got in Jokic’s face. No, really, he did.

Blame it all on Gary Payton II. He blocked one of Jokic’s shots in the lane — the third Payton block of Jokic this season, despite their eight-inch height disparity — and animatedly posed in celebration. Ten seconds later, when the Nuggets called timeout, Payton and Jokic crossed

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Basket Ball / Sports

Phoenix Suns tie franchise record for wins with nail-biter over Warriors

One down, one more to go to make history and make a case for the best to ever play basketball in the Valley.

The Phoenix Suns are a win a way from setting the franchise record for victories in a single season after Wednesday’s 107-103 triumph at Golden State before a sellout crowd of 18,064 at Chase Center.

“I’m unbelievably proud of our players and our staff and I’m proud to be a part of Suns history in this way,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.

Devin Booker scored 22 points on 5-for-21 shooting on as his two free throws with 34.2 seconds left put Phoenix up 102-101.

Then after Draymond Green was called for traveling, Chris Paul scored to make the difference three, 104-101, with 13.1 seconds left.

“We feel like we’ve been here before,” Paul said. “Obviously, it’s an exciting environment. playing in here, crowd going crazy and all that, but we’ve played a ton of games like that this year, last year. That trust is what helps us.”

Paul finished with 15 points as all five starters reached double figures with Mikal Bridges scoring 22, Deandre Ayton posting 16 points and 16 boards and Jae Crowder adding 10 points.

“We just stayed together,” Bridges said. “We just stayed together throughout the whole thing. We’ve got CP and Book. That’s how I always feel during those times. They’re going to take us home and we’re going to go out there there and get stops and fight all the way to the end.”

Winners of nine straight, Phoenix (62-14) tied the franchise record for wins set by the 1992-93 team led by Charles Barkley and the 2004-05 “Seven Seconds or Less” squad orchestrated by Steve Nash.

“It means a whole lot,” Booker said. “Being here seven years now and just learning more and more about the franchise and the organization and the people that have came before us and now to be up there with those ones, it feels good.”

The Suns will look to break the record Friday at …