Without Curry, Warriors stepped it up on defense
Team went 9-2 in guard’s absence by tightening the screws on defensive end
OAKLAND >> The statistic appears ripe for any sports talk show or website that wants to attract an audience by saying anything outlandish.
While Warriors guard Stephen Curry stayed sidelined with a sprained right ankle, the Warriors went 9-2 in his absence. The reason? Sorry, click baiters. The Warriors are not better off without Curry.
“It’s the fear of playing without Steph Curry,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “That’s the natural reaction of our players to understand we don’t have Steph. We have to buckle down. When your focus is a little bit better and you’re competitive desire is there, then you’re going to play better defensively.”
Through their first 12 games in December, the Warriors led the NBA in several defensive categories per game, including blocks (8.4), defensive rebounds (36.4) and opponent field-goal percentage (41.7).
That became a much different story, though, when Curry returned. The Warriors benefitted obviously from Curry’s team-leading 38 points in their win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. The Warriors did not stop anyone, though. They allowed Memphis to score 128 points, led by center Marc Gasol posting 27 points by shooting 10 of 13 from the field and 4 of 4 from 3-point range. On the day before Curry’s return, the Warriors also lost to Charlotte when center Dwight Howard had a throwback game with 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
“I’m not quite happy with the defense, especially the last two games,” Warriors center Zaza Pachulia. “This is something we have to get better moving forward. We will.”
Kerr made little of Gasol and Howard posting up such numbers because of their resume as past All-Stars. Kerr expressed more internal criticism
when it came to handling double teams on Howard.
“That was my fault. I like to double selectively; certain areas that are more vulnerable than others,” Kerr said. “I don’t think I communicated that well enough (on Saturday) to our guys in terms of when to go and when not to. That was not good coaching on my part.”
But Kerr has provided good coaching during his three-year span with the Warriors. While winning two NBA championships out of three NBA Finals appearances, the Warriors finished
in the top five in defensive efficiency. Though the Warriors are tied for 13th in points allowed per game (105.2) this season, they are ranked first in defensive field-goal percentage (43 percent) and blocks (8.4).
With the Warriors fielding a fully healthy roster, Pachulia anticipated challenges decreasing with possibly more practice time and less roster combinations that could contribute to such a learning curve.
“We have everybody back, so hopefully we have a chance to work on our defense and work on our schemes,” Pachulia said. It’s not science. We have done it. We’ve proven we are a pretty good defensive team. As long as we put our mind and effort into it, that’s all we have to do.”