Curry No. 1 in assists, gets little help in rout
Few doubted that Warriors guard Stephen Curry would break Guy Rodgers’ 55yearold franchise assists record Monday night. Curry has averaged 6.6 assists per game over his NBA career, and he only needed two more to eclipse Rodgers’ alltime mark of 4,855.
But to record an assist, the player one is finding must score. That proved tricky for Curry’s supporting cast, which is why, just a day after he posted nine assists, he needed until early in the third quarter of Monday’s 12897 loss to the Lakers at Chase Center to get his second assist for the franchise record.
Some might have wondered whether statisticians had special incentive to ensure Curry wouldn’t wait any longer to pass Rodgers. After receiving that historic pass from Curry at the top of the 3point arc, guard Kelly Oubre Jr. dribbled several times before lofting in a layup, which raised the question: Was Curry’s recordbreaking assist really an assist at all?
However, that was hardly the most important takeaway from the Warriors’ latest blowout loss. After delivering one of their most complete performances of the season in Sunday’s 131119 win over the leaguebest Jazz, Golden State players were optimistic that they’d finally found the breakthrough they’d long sought, only to regress mightily the next night.
The Warriors never seriously threatened after they entered halftime staring down a 15point hole. For far too long, Golden State’s offense was distilled to Curry dribbling by defenders as his teammates stood and watched. When Curry did try to get his running mates involved, they tended to either fling up an illadvised shot or miss an easy one.
Curry finished with 27 points on 9for17 shooting (4for7 from 3point range) in
29 minutes. Outside of forward Andrew Wiggins (15 points) and Oubre (12 points), no other Warriors players scored in double figures until a win was well out of reach.
The lack of support for Curry was only part of the problem on a night that Golden State committed 22 turnovers and 23 fouls as it was outrebounded 4630. Given how little resistance the Warriors’ defense offered, few could have been faulted for forgetting that head coach Steve Kerr’s team
entered the game with the league’s seventhbest defense.
The Lakers, who started 10daycontract player and exWarrior Damian Jones at center with Anthony Davis (right calf strain) and Marc Gasol (coronavirus protocols) sidelined, shot 62.8% from the field (40.7% from 3point range). This shouldn’t have come as a major surprise, given that Golden State has shown a tendency this season to follow up inspired performances with lackluster ones.
There was also the fact that the Warriors were fatigued after giving allout effort against the Jazz, while the
Lakers hadn’t played in three days. But one could hear the enthusiasm in Golden State players’ voices when they spoke Sunday about their belief that things were different. Finally, they said, an overhauled roster appeared to be coalescing.
Perhaps there was some truth in what they said. But if there was, it’ll have to wait until Wednesday’s game in Houston to reveal itself.