Curry back on court but Pistons prevail.
DETROIT >> Three weeks and 11 games later, the Warriors finally welcomed back Stephen Curry back onto the court.
As the Warriors experienced in their 111-102 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, however, they did not enjoy the usual benefits that coincide with Curry’s presence. Instead, the Warriors
(15-9) started a two-game losing streak for the second time this season.
After rehabbing his strained left groin since injuring it on Nov. 8, Curry finished with 27 points, while shooting 10 of 21 from the field, 3 of 9 from 3-point range and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in 37 minutes. He posted more turnovers (seven) than rebounds (five). He recorded more fouls (four) than assists (three) and steals (two) in 37 minutes.
“Anytime I had the ball in my hands, I feel like I had to make something happen,” Curry said. “I didn’t really force much, but the timing was off. My teammates were doing a great job in trying to find me and get me going. A little bit of that went against us.”
Curry opened the game as a facilitator and took more than three minutes before attempting his first shot. He missed his first five 3-point field-goal attempts. He committed three of his seven turnovers in the second quarter before opening the second half with two more turnovers within the first 36 seconds.
During that time, Curry reported feeling satisfied with his conditioning, insisted he felt fine physically and conceded he “got tired a little bit.” When Curry drained a 28 3-pointer to cut the Pistons’ lead to 6958 with 7:17 left in the third quarter, however, he admittedly sensed a heatcheck. Curry had tried the same thing when he heaved a 50foot shot at the buzzer before halftime. It fell short.
“I was hoping the one at the half would’ve went in for hilarity sake in terms of how bad the first half was,” Curry said. “After that, you make a big shot, you start to feel a little bit of rhythm that’ll carry over next game.”
That explains why the Warriors collectively shrugged their shoulders over Curry’s return.
“You want to come in and play well and you want to be aggressive as soon as you get into the game. I like his aggressiveness,” said Warriors forward Kevin Durant, who added 28 points while shooting 9 of 19 from the field, 1 of 7 from the 3-point line and 9 of 9 from the free-throw line. “He looked great. Wind looked great. It’s a matter of time before he gets back into the flow of the NBA game. Even MVPs like that might take more than a game.”
Before the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr did not plan to place any minutes restrictions on Curry. Kerr often repeated he never feels surprised with any of Curry’s heroics. And afterward? Kerr did not seem too surprised either with Curry’s play that he called “up and down.”
“He got himself going after a while. Slow start. It wasn’t his best game,” Kerr said. “But I’m not at all worried about Steph.”
KERR TAKES BLAME >> Kerr expressed more concern about some other numbers.
The Warriors shot 6 of 26 from 3-point range (23.1 percent), while Detroit (137) went 12 of 35 (34.3 percent). That signifies two problems. The Warriors did not take or make enough shots from the perimeter.
They also conceded more possessions to Detroit to take nine more 3-point attempts. Overall, the Warriors might rank No. 1 in 3-point percentage (38.5 percent), but they rank 20th out of 30 NBA teams in attempts (29.7).
“I did not like our offense. I got to do a better job honestly,” Kerr said. “Tonight was probably a game that I could mark down as one of my worst performances as a coach, honestly. Every time I looked up, we had three guys in the paint.” Durant defended Kerr. “Sometimes our spacing is a little messed up and that’s on the leaders of the team out there on the floor to get them in order,” Durant said. “I don’t know if Coach can correct that. That’s on us as leaders on the floor to make sure the floor is balanced to make sure we have space to knock down 3s.”
GREEN REMAINS CONFIDENT HE WILL RETURN SOON >> The scattered tickets by Green’s locker captured the attention he attracts whenever he returns to his home state. But this is not what Green envisioned for his return home. He has missed 11 of the past 13 games because of a sprained right toe in his right foot.
“I had planned for possibly being back by Detroit,” Green said. “It didn’t really go as planned for me. But
planning to be back on this road trip.”
Kerr said that Green will likely return at the end of the team’s five-game trip, which still includes stops in Atlanta (Monday), Cleveland (Wednesday) and Milwaukee (Friday). Green added his right toe is “getting better” and “there ain’t pain no more.”
Even if Green said he “took some huge strides” this week with conditioning drills on an exercise bike, Kerr said he still wants Green to practice. It appears unclear when that will happen. The Warriors originally planned to have practice in Toronto on Friday afternoon before changing plans to have it in Detroit after landing here. Once the team landed in Detroit late Friday afternoon, Kerr canceled practice and only held an optional session that is mostly reserved for the team’s young players.
“I just need to play. I don’t think practice is going to be it for me,” Green said. “I just have to get up and down some. It’s about building to that process.” INJURY UPDATE >> Following the Warriors’ loss to Detroit, third-year center Damian Jones received an MRI on an injured left shoulder. It is not immediately clear when the results will available, or how serious the injury might be.
But Jones missed the entire fourth quarter because of the injury. He finished with nine points on 3-of-7 shooting and six rebounds in 20 minutes.