The Golden State Warriors (5-3) fended off a late charge by the Phoenix Suns (1-4) to win 116-113 on Monday at Chase Center.
Collin Gillespie's potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer was well off.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 34 points. Devin Booker had a team-high 24 points, but he fouled out when he was called for an offensive foul on De'Anthony Melton with 57.6 seconds to go.
Draymond Green was ejected in the third quarter after getting two technicals in the same sequence.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors' fifth win in a row.
Charles Bassey had the best game of his NBA career Monday, recording 19 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes.
With Al Horford resting and Green ejected, the Warriors needed Bassey for the key moments, and he delivered.
There's no question that Bassey has earned more playing time moving forward. But Bassey's emergence doesn't change the Warriors' need for a center.
Ideally, Bassey is a backup center who gives a team energy in spurts. He'd be in a perfect role if the Dubs acquired a starting-caliber center such as Myles Turner.
Until the Warriors make such a trade-likely using Kristaps Porzingis' $20 million salary as a money-matcher-they will have to continue to play Green and Horford at center, who are both undersized for the position.
In the meantime, Bassey is the Dubs' best bet when they need more traditional center production like paint scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking. He can be exposed when he has to guard in space and make ball-handling decisions near the three-point line.
The Warriors were playing short-handed without Gui Santos, Brandon Williams and Horford, and then Green's ejection made them even worse off depth-wise.
They needed two players to give them a lift outside of Curry, Brandin Podziemski and Yaxel Lendeborg.
Bassey and Georges Niang delivered.
Niang finished with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting with four rebounds, three assists and no turnovers. He was plus-20, which was the Warriors' second-best mark (Curry was plus-21).
In all, Curry, Podz, Lendeborg, Bassey and Niang combined to score 102 of the Dubs' 116 points.
Steve Kerr's closing lineup is not set in stone.
Curry is the only lock, though Podz, Lendeborg and Green (when not ejected) are likely to close most games.
On some nights, Kerr should go with Santos to have more size on the wings (as I wrote here , the Santos-Lendeborg forward duo has been great). But on Monday, he pulled the right lever going with a three-guard lineup with Curry, Melton and Podz.
Melton had two massive defensive plays. First, he used his long wingspan to steal Jalen Green's attempted kick-out pass to Dillon Brooks with 1:37 to go.
Then about 40 seconds later, he crowded Booker, who used his shoulder to knock Melton off balance to create space. That was called an offensive foul.
Melton did not have a good game overall. He had just two points on 1-of-9 shooting.
Kerr deserves credit for sticking with him in crunch time, and Melton deserves credit for helping the Warriors survive a rock-fight finish.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/warriors/onsi as Takeaways from Warriors' Win vs. Suns: How Bassey's Big Game Impacts Center Plans .
