Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Curry goes cold in crunch time
OAKLAND >> Stephen Curry made hundreds of miraculous shots on his way to his second straight MVP. But in the final accounting of his season, he missed his last five, and it’ll likely torment him and the Warriors forever.
The man who made a record 402 3-pointers in the regular season was 0 for 4 from beyond the arc down the stretch in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and Curry didn’t score a single point against the Cleveland Cavaliers after tying the score 83-all with his last 3 of the year -- with 6:57 to play.
The championship was there to win, but Curry, obviously diminished physically throughout this series, couldn’t will his body to pull it out. Along with the misses, he was the defender on what turned out to be Kyrie Irving’s tie-breaking 3-point basket with 53 seconds left.
Then, at the other end of the floor, he couldn’t break down defender Kevin Love and tossed up an errant 3-point shot with 30.7 second remainig that all but sealed the deal for the Cavaliers’ comeback run to the NBA championship.
It’s been a physically painful postseason for Curry almost from the start, but what kicked in the wake of the Warriors’ crushing
“At home in the fourth quarter, I felt like we could go for the dagger punch and I didn’t really put any pressure on the defense getting to the paint and trying to force the issue that way.” – Golden State’s Stephen Curry
93-89 defeat was the mental and emotional and pain of his own court inadequacies. He sat for several minutes at his locker with his face in his hands, and when he finally gathered himself to address the media afterward, he took the long walk to the interview room still wearing his uniform.
Once at the mike, Curry pulled no punches in saying he felt he let his team down in a big way.
“I mean, a lot of it was kind of myself leading the charge and settling (for 3-pointers) too much,” he said. “At home in the fourth quarter, I felt like we could go for the dagger punch and I didn’t really put any pressure on the defense getting to the paint and trying to force the issue that way.
“I really just settled too much. That’s something that is tough to swallow with the opportunity we had in front of us.”
Curry, who led the NBA
in scoring at 30.1 points a game, scored just 17 in Game 7. He made just 6 of 19 shots, and was a mere 4 of 14 from 3-point range. He had just two assists and committed four turnovers, including a costly behindthe-back throwaway with the Warriors leading by 87-86 with 5:16 to go. Series MVP LeBron James subsequently came down the floor and hit a 3-pointer, and while the Warriors tied the score, they never led again.
Curry had said on the eve of the deciding game that he needed to play the best game of his career to carry the Warriors to the title. Afterward, he said he wasn’t even close.
“I didn’t play efficient,” he said. “I had some good moments, but I didn’t do enough to help my team win, especially down the stretch. It will haunt me for awhile because it means a lot to try and lead my team and do what I need to do on the court and big stages. Done it before. Didn’t do it tonight.”
It looked like the Warriors were primed for a big finish
when Curry canned his long 3-pointer from well beyond the top of the key to tie the score, and backcourt mate Klay Thompson followed with a long 2-point shot that put Golden State ahead 8583. Curry missed on a layup try, but Draymond Green rebounded it back in, and the Warriors were up 87-83 with 5:37 to go. But it went sour from there.
Curry did get open for a long 3-pointer with 4:06 to play and the score tied at 89. But it missed badly, and as it turned out, he wouldn’t get another look that good again. Both teams had several tries for the go-ahead until Irving fired over Curry for what proved to be the game-winner.
“I haven’t seen the play, I don’t know how close I was to him,” he said. “I tried to reach at the ball, stay in front of him, make it a tough shot. It was a tough step-back that he just stepped up and made. It doesn’t matter how good or bad defense I played, he made the shot. So credit to him. He stepped up and took advantage of the moment. It was not a good
feeling turning around and seeing it go in.”
As for Love defending him at the other end – something that would have seemed wholly unlikely if Curry were fully healthy, the point guard was honest.
“I was searching for a 3 and rushed and didn’t take what was there, which was probably better to go around him and try to get into the paint,” he said. “That’s basically it.”
As he has throughout the postseason following subpar games, Curry refused to use injuries to his ankle, knee and elbow as an excuse.
“I’ve always said if I’m out there playing, hurt or not hurt, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s what the results are. And that stays true to today. I need to get healthier, but there are no excuses for what happened on the floor. I was out there, ready to play. I had some good games, I had some bad games, and that’s it.
“I won’t get injured celebrating tonight, I can tell you that much.”