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Everything was set up for the Golden State Warriors to roll on Tuesday night. Those are the games to watch out for. With the Suns missing 80 percent of their starting lineup and Stephen Curry making his return to the lineup after 11 games out, the host Warriors were outplayed pretty much from start to finish in a 125-113 defeat that wasn't even as close as that score would indicate for most of the night. 

Curry was having a terrible game until he got it going in the fourth quarter, when he scored 16 of his 24 points and the Suns turned the ball over 12 times in letting the Warriors back within striking distance. 

But this was last-gasp stuff. The Suns controlled this game the whole way. They demolished Golden State on the offensive glass. Mikal Bridges, whom the Suns have leaned on heavily in the absence of Devin Booker and now Chris Paul, was awesome as the main initiator with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and several high-level passes typically reserved for elite playmakers. 

Bridges has gotten better every year of his career. He's capable of putting the ball on the floor and creating offense for himself and teammates. He's getting his chance to show that more and more. He's a fringe All-Star. 

As for the Warriors, this makes three straight home losses to conclude a season-long eight-game home stand. The road has been a problem all season, but the Warriors have been great at the Chase Center until dropping contests to Detroit, Orlando and Phoenix, none of which carried a winning record into the matchup. 

Klay Thompson led Golden State with 29 points. He made six of his 14 3-pointers but missed some momentum ones as the Warriors were threatening to pull off a comeback. Jordan Poole scored 27 off the bench and was electric in Golden State's late run, but this is not the blueprint for success: Get dominated all game only to catch fire late and make the score look better than it should. 

We're now halfway through the season and the Warriors are under .500 (20-21). It's good news that Curry found his rhythm late. That was never going to take long, and he'll need to carry that momentum forward. The Warriors can't play the "we'll flip the switch when it's time" card for much longer. 

Yes, they have every right to believe they can beat anyone in a playoff series, home or away, and as such, their seed probably isn't of the utmost importance. But at least staying out of the play-in round, when one loss can send you home, should be a priority. Look at the rest of the Western Conference. It's stacked. There is going to be a really good team having to battle through the play-in, and the Warriors would like to avoid that dubious designation.