Steph Curry Explains Key Late Steal in Warriors' Win Over Suns

An early ejection got most of the attention after Monday night's game at Chase Center, but one of the plays that decided a 116-113 win for the Golden State Warriors over the Phoenix Suns came from Steph Curry on defense in the final two minutes.

Forward Draymond Green was ejected with about 10 minutes left in the third quarter after picking up two technical fouls in the same sequence, the first for tossing center Khaman Maluach to the floor after the whistle and the second after a scuffle with forward Dillon Brooks, and Golden State trailed 67-57 at that point.

The Warriors answered with 42 points in the third quarter to tie the game, and guard Stephen Curry scored 18 of them after a slow first half.

He finished with a game-high 34 points, seven assists and six rebounds while going 11-of-12 at the free-throw line, and he told NBC Sports Bay Area that Green's ejection lit a fire under the team.

Curry made two free throws with 2:06 left to put Golden State ahead 111-108, and on Phoenix's next trip down he took the ball from guard Devin Booker for a steal with 1:51 to go.

Guard Brandin Podziemski made two free throws a few seconds later to push the lead to 113-108.

When Curry was asked about the play after the game, he gave the credit to guard Gary Payton II, who goes by GP.

"That was something between me and GP because he's the master of picking off the dribbler. I don't have the wingspan he does so I have to get real lucky when I do it, and I got one, good timing. He loves when I do that and I love when he does the scoop layups so we have a little fun with it," Curry said.

I enjoyed that answer a lot.

Two guards are trading tricks and teasing each other in the middle of a season, and on a night when everyone was talking about Green, Curry wanted to talk about his teammate.

The Warriors started this season 0-3 and are now 5-3 after a fifth straight win, and I like how they are doing it.

Forward Yaxel Lendeborg scored 37 points against the Clippers on Sunday, a night his coach was quick to praise, and center Charles Bassey scored a career-high 19 points off the bench against Phoenix.

Even with that help, Curry is still the one driving this team.

Head coach Steve Kerr has had plenty of good things to say about his star this season, and a 34-point night with a big steal in a tight finish shows he can still win games on both ends of the floor.

Green's ejection was the first of his season, per ESPN's Anthony Slater, and the Warriors won without him anyway, which shows how much this group has grown since the slow start.

Curry has talked about feeling some relief once the wins started coming, and the Warriors will try to stretch this streak to six when they host the Miami Heat on Thursday, a game I expect them to win.