Curry needs to bounce back vs. Cavaliers Monday

Series shifts to Golden State with Cleveland riding momentum of victory in Game 4

OAKLAND, Calif. — The addition of Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors was supposed to do many things. But, chief among them, it was supposed to remove the greatest vulnerability to the Warriors, one that reared its head during Golden State's collapse from a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals a year ago: the necessity for Stephen Curry to be at his best for the Warriors to win against the best competition.

But as the Warriors lost big to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in Game 4 of this year's Finals, sending the series back to Oakland for Game 5 on Monday night with Golden State in the same position it was a year ago - a chance to close out the series on their home court inside Oracle Arena - it also brought another realization: the Warriors still can't overcome, at least against their Finals opponent, a dud from their superstar point guard.

“Just one of those games,” Curry said after going 4-for-13 to finish with 14 points, five rebounds and 10 assists in a 137-116 loss. “Not going to overreact to one.

“Obviously I can play better and want to play better and will play better.”

Curry might not be overreacting, but his performance - as well as the performance of Kyrie Irving against him - will be scrutinized and analyzed from now until Game 5 tips off Monday night. And after Golden State dominated the first two games in this series, and then managed to come from behind and win Game 3, the Warriors now return home with the first shred of doubt in their minds in these playoffs.

They'll spend the next 36 hours or so leading up to Game 5 being reminded of everything that happened last year, from the collapse in the Finals to the dominance of Irving and LeBron James in the final three games of that fateful series to the part Curry played in the season that saw his Warriors win a record 73 games and saw him win a second straight Most Valuable Player award - and the first-ever unanimous selection - end in crushing disappointment.

Now, as the Warriors try to close this series out, the focus will be squarely on Curry until the Warriors win the championship - or until they somehow allow the Cavaliers to engineer what would be the biggest comeback in NBA history for a second consecutive year. That will remain the case even as both Curry and his coach, Steve Kerr, tried to downplay his performance Friday.

“Obviously it wasn't his night,” Kerr said. “Started slow, we had some turnovers early, couple careless ones.

“He just didn't get it going. It was just one of those nights.”

Curry's play in last year's playoffs became a hot topic of debate, both during them and long after they were completed. He missed a combined six games - and parts of two others - in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and upon returning had both moments of brilliance (his 40-point performance in an overtime win in Portland in his first game back in the second round, his 38-point performance in Game 4 of last year's Finals against Cleveland) and moments where he just didn't seem to have the same burst he did during his brilliant regular season (when he was unable to drive past Kevin Love in the final minute of Game 7 against the Cavaliers).

But while Curry wasn't the same player that he was during the regular season - likely in large part due to injury - to his credit he has never used that as an excuse. And, whether he was fully healthy by the end of those playoffs or not, the cold, hard truth for Curry and the Warriors is that, until they close this series out, last year's failure - and every subsequent one this season - will hang over them.

That's why, even after three strong games to open this series, which saw Curry come into Game 4 within shouting distance of averaging a triple-double, one game set Curry's stature back, and put back into focus his importance to the Warriors.

Yes, Durant is a remarkable talent, and remained so in Game 4, as he finished with 35 points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 39 minutes. But it is Curry's ridiculous, mind-bending shooting ability that still causes defenses to be on high alert the second Curry steps over halfcourt, and what has turned Golden State's offense into an unstoppable juggernaut the past three seasons.

Curry will need to be back to that kind of player again in Game 5 to finally put away the Cavaliers, to chase away the demons from last year's collapse. If he can't - and if Golden State somehow allows Cleveland to get a second straight win - this series, which clearly seemed over, will suddenly be anything but.