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OAKLAND, Calif. -- When Steve Blake checked in at the scorers table with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter, Stephen Curry shook his head and shouted across the court, asking Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson not to take him out. Jackson, a self-described "feel coach," changed his plan. He had Blake enter instead for Andre Iguodala, who looked over at Curry and laughed on the way to the bench. Curry keyed the deciding run later in the third quarter. He finished with 18 points and nine assists on a strained right quad, helping the Warriors hold off the Phoenix Suns 113-107 on Sunday night for their fourth straight win. "I always tell coach Im fine," Curry said. "He always asks me if somethings going on, whether it was my ankle back in the day or something small like this. Im surprised he still asked me because he already knows the answer." David Lee added 26 points and nine rebounds and Klay Thompson scored 22 points for the Warriors, who built an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter before the Suns surged back. Golden State is 9-2 since the All-Star break and a season-high 16 games over .500. The Warriors are two games ahead of Dallas for sixth place in the crowded Western Conference standings. The Mavericks visit Golden State on Tuesday night. "The guys had a sense of urgency," Jackson said. "They understood how big this game was. They realized we had an opportunity to really take control." Gerald Green had 25 points and six rebounds, and Goran Dragic added 24 points and six assists for the Suns, who dropped into a tie with Memphis for eighth in the West. The Suns also missed a chance to take the four-game season series over the Warriors -- and the potential head-to-head tiebreaker for playoff seeding that comes with it. Each team won both meetings on its home floor. "Thats just the whole point about learning how to be a playoff team," Green said. "Certain things you can get away with on certain nights, but when youre playing a team like this -- a team thats been in the playoffs -- you have to be solid for 48 minutes." Neither team showed much playoff poise in the final minute. Greens layup cut Golden States lead to 111-107 with 38.1 seconds remaining. After Thompson missed a 3-pointer, Andre Iguodala came down with a rebound and the Suns were forced to foul. Phoenix caught a break when Iguodala missed both free throws. But then Green stepped out of bounds receiving a pass from Dragic on the sideline. Steve Blake missed two free throws to give the Suns yet another chance. Phoenix followed that up with Marcus Morris air-balling a 3-pointer, and Iguodala made two free throws to seal Golden States victory. The Warriors outshot Phoenix 52.9 per cent to 48 per cent. The Suns outrebounded Golden State 41 to 35 but committed 20 turnovers, while the Warriors only had 12. "I thought in that third quarter we really got outhustled," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "They were active. They were aggressive for the ball. They wanted it more than we did." With a nagging quad limiting his playing time, Curry shook off the pain and made sure Jackson kept him on the court longer than expected. Curry made a 3-pointer and handed out six assists during a 23-4 run in the third quarter, and the Warriors went ahead 96-78 early in the fourth. Curry shot 7 for 16 from the floor in 30 minutes. "He really took over," Jackson said. Before the game, Curry said that he injured his quad during Golden States win at Boston on Wednesday and began to feel pain again during Fridays victory over Atlanta. Both Jackson and Curry said they will communicate with each other during games to determine when -- and how much -- the All-Star point guard plays. While he looked a step slow in the first half defending Dragic, Curry came through when his team needed him most. After the Suns went ahead by 12 in the second quarter, Curry converted a reverse layup while getting fouled by Morris to start a three-point play that brought the Warriors within one. But back-to-back 3-pointers by Dragic helped Phoenix carry a 61-56 lead into intermission. The Warriors disrupted Phoenixs offence in the third quarter by trapping Dragic at half court. The swarming defence led to several fast-break opportunities, and Curry controlled the offence with near perfection to put the Warriors ahead for good. NOTES: Hornacek said G Eric Bledsoe, who has been out since Dec. 30 recovering from knee surgery, will likely return for Wednesdays home game against Cleveland. ... The Warriors recalled G Nemanja Nedovic from Santa Cruz of the NBA Development League. ... 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Four years after winning gold on home ice in Vancouver, the Canadians will get a chance to make it two in a row Sunday against Sweden after beating the United States 1-0 in the Olympic semifinals Friday at Bolshoy Ice Dome.TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to revamp their offensive staff, adding Mike Bajakian as quarterbacks coach on Thursday.Bajakian spent the past two seasons as offensive co-ordinator at the University of Tennessee, where he also mentored quarterbacks under coach Butch Jones.Tampa Bay ranked 25th in passing, 29th in points scored and 30th in total offence while stumbling to a 2-14 record last season.Former Atlanta Falcons assistant Dirk Koetter joined the Bucs as new offensive co-ordinator this month, and Bajakian figures to play a key role in the development of the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft if Tampa Bay decides to select Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariotta.The move also reunites Bajakian with Bucs coach Lovie Smith. He was an offensive quality control assistant on Smiths staff with the Chicago Bears from 2004 to 2006.Bajakian replaces Marcus Arroyo, who had no previous NFL experience before joining the Bucs last season and unexpectedly being forced to assume responsibility for calling plays when former Bucs offensive co-ordinator Jeff Tedford underwent a heart procedure in August. Tedford never returned to work full time and left the team altogether in December.Wed like to thank Coach Bajakian for his two years at Tenneessee and his efforts in helping us rebuild this storied program, Jones said in a statement released by the university.ddddddddddddWe wish him much success with his goal of coaching in the NFL.Bajakian spent two seasons as Tennessees offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach after previously holding the same positions on Jones staffs at Central Michigan and Cincinnati.The Volunteers averaged 28.9 points and 370.5 yards per game this past season to rank 10th in the Southeastern Conference in scoring offence and 11th in total offence. The offence improved down the stretch after Joshua Dobbs took over as starting quarterback, helping the Vols go 7-6 and win the TaxSlayer Bowl to end a string of four straight losing seasons.The Vols had averaged 23.8 points and 353.3 yards per game in 2013.The Buccaneers sputtered offensively, despite having a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in the same season for the first time in franchise history. Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson both topped the plateau, even though quarterback Josh McCown ranked next to last in the league in passer rating.___AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Knoxville, Tenn., also contributed to this report.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '