Curry off as team suffers 11th straight loss on road
MEMPHIS — As Stephen Curry and Draymond Green walked in tandem toward the bench in the first half, Green leaned in and whispered to Curry, “Don’t let him push you around.”
The “him” Green was referring to Saturday was Memphis’ Dillon Brooks, who was tasked with guarding Curry throughout the Golden State Warriors’ 133-119 loss at FedExForum. And “Dillon the Villain” — uber physical and ever talkative — thwarted Curry’s scoring efforts masterfully.
Brooks didn’t give up much space to Curry and kept chirping in his ear for nearly 30 minutes, with his usual brand of theatrics sprinkled in.
Curry finished with 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting — by far his worst offensive game since returning from a lower left leg injury on March 5. He averaged 33.7 points over his previous seven games entering Saturday night.
“We played the whole Memphis Grizzlies, not just” Dillon, Curry said.
Said Brooks, “It’s friendly trash talk, but I just hold a lot of real estate over there in San Francisco.”
And as Curry goes, so do the Warriors in most cases. Golden State trailed Memphis 119-109 when he left the game for good with 6:16 left in the fourth quarter. Without him on the court, the game got out of hand in clutch time. The Warriors shot just 42.9% from the field and went 13for-35 from 3-point range.
“First game he’s been back I think that he hasn’t shot well,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. “Brooks did a good job defensively. But all in all, it just felt like Steph’s legs weren’t quite there tonight. It’s going to happen at 35.”
The Warriors (36-36) have now lost 11 straight games on the road, where they’ve won just seven times in 36 tries. The team’s five-game trip will continue Monday night in Houston.
Golden State slipped into seventh place in the Western Conference standings after the loss, a half-game back of Dallas. It visits the Mavericks on Wednesday and could be in danger of slipping further. Their season series is tied 1-1.
“I think there’s never an excuse for anything in terms of how you play,” Curry said. “When you suit up you expect to play great. Physically it was fine. Mentally it felt like we were locked in and missed some shots, which happens. The way they guard us (applies) a lot of pressure. Dillon does that a lot 94 feet and he has a lot of size behind him and it’s part of their game plan.”
With most of the Warriors’ starting lineup struggling in Saturday, the bench picked up the scoring slack.
Jonathan Kuminga finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists. He led all scorers with 11 first-quarter points, the most he has scored in an opening stanza in his career. He also tied a career high with four 3-pointers.
Kuminga’s third-quarter slam sparked a Warriors run, which cut Memphis’ lead to four entering the final frame. He was picking up full court, jumping passing lanes on defense, making the extra pass on offense.
Although there aren’t many silver linings as Golden State’s road woes continue, the 20-year-old continues to show signs of being playoff-ready, should the Warriors qualify.
“I think his growth has been great,” Green said. “I think he’s right where you’d hope a guy would be at this point in his career, continuing to grow and get better, understanding more, becoming more and more reliable. That’s all you can ask for.”
Jordan Poole added 21 points off the bench. While he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well from the field (5-for-12), he thrived offensively in isolation situations and lived at the free-throw line, where he went 9-for-9. Green, in his first game back from a one-game suspension, had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led seven Grizzlies in double figures with 31 points and had seven rebounds. Memphis shot 54.7% from the field and made 18 3pointers.