BOUNCEBACK TIME
Warriors need Curry to shake off subpar Game 3 performance, gain redemption
HOUSTON >> The Warriors needed a basket, down by 5 with 26 seconds to play in overtime of Game 3 of their second-round playoff series with the Rockets.
So Stephen Curry took the ball and started to push. He ran past a bonerattling Draymond Green pick of Austin Rivers. He dribbled behind the back at half court to easily evade James Harden’s imitation of defense. Forty feet away from the basket and he was all alone — the entire Rockets defense was behind him.
So with 21 seconds remaining, Curry took off from just outside the restricted area. On an evening where Curry mightily struggled to put the ball in the basket, he was being given the two easiest points imaginable, and they were going to keep his team in the game.
Only instead of simply laying the ball up, the 6-foot-3 Curry tried to do something he only once did successfully in a game this season — he tried to dunk.
Either you already know what happened or you can guess where this is going: Curry was rejected by the front of the rim.
“Not my finest moment,” Curry said after the game.
Rarely in this world of sports is a single play perfectly indicative of a player’s overall performance. But Curry’s missed dunk was just that.
Before the embarrassing rejection, Curry strung quite a few not-so-fine moments together. He shot 30 percent from the field Saturday, missing seven of his 10 shots in the paint and two of his three free throws. He looked nothing like an MVP.
Was it the worst playoff performance of his career? There are certainly some duds to choose from, but it’s in contention to be at the top of the list.
Was it the only reason the Warriors lost Game 3?
No.
After all, there was a missed charge call on James Harden the play before Curry’s missed dunk, Houston’s utter domination on the glass, and a woeful Warriors bench performance. All contributed to the loss.
That said, Curry’s poor game needs to be at the top of that list.
The Baby Faced Assassin is in a rut and he needs to find a way out ahead of Game 4 tonight in
Houston, for both his sake and the sake of his team.
Curry has been unfairly maligned for his playoff performances over the years. Going into Game 3, his numbers over the last seven postseasons were almost identical to his regularseason numbers over that same period of time — the only difference is a two-point drop in effective field goal percentage and one fewer assist per game in the postseason.
But so far in this secondround matchup with the Rockets — the only series of true significance in the Western Conference this year — Curry has given fuel to those who say that he is not a great postseason performer; the people who are quick to remind you that Curry has never won an NBA Finals MVP award.
Curry is shooting 36 percent from the field in this series and 25 percent from beyond the arc. He’s picked up five fouls in all three games, too. Saturday, he cost his team the game, shooting 0-for-6 in the biggest moments — the fourth quarter and overtime.
“A couple more shots go my way, this game could be different — but that’s basketball for you,” Curry said. “I’ll probably be thinking about it tonight when I go to sleep.”
It should be noted that Curry is carrying injuries. He has an ankle that’s still tweaked and a left middle finger — blue and swollen after being dislocated in Game 2 — that’s made that hand as useful as a lobster claw.
“If I’m out there playing, I have to produce, and it just didn’t happen tonight,” Curry said.
If Curry isn’t making excuses, we shouldn’t do it for him.
Curry’s right — he needs to produce. Durant has carried the Warriors since Game 3 of the team’s first-round series with the Clippers — a shift that has become more pronounced over the last three games — but even he, at the height of his superhuman powers, cannot do it alone. You can only ask so much of one man.
Right now the Rockets and the Warriors are throwing the same kind of smoke — it’s hero ball plus some timely hustle. In Game 3, the Rockets hustled
more and they won the game because of it.
The Warriors have the ability to play a different way, though — to throw a hook to complement their jab. Golden State’s beautiful motion offense hasn’t been seen much in the first three games of this series —stymied by the Rockets’ physicality, switching defense, and welltimed perimeter traps. Curry still has gravity, and he’s making space for his teammates, thanks to some of those traps — a big reason why Andre Iguodala and Green are having strong offensive series — but the Rockets have clearly knocked him off kilter.
Of course, it only takes one shot for Curry to start a deluge that can turn a game on its head. The Warriors are confident that Curry will break out in short order.
“He just had a tough night,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Everybody — no matter how good you are, (is) going to have some bad games. It was just a tough night for him.”
“We know what Steph Curry is capable of,” Green said. “We
need Steph to continue to be Steph. Shoot the basketball no matter if he’s struggling or not … We know his shot will start falling.”
But he can’t wait until Game 5 for that to happen.
The Warriors missed an opportunity to knock out the Rockets in Game 3. Miss again in Game 4 and the Rockets will head back to Oakland with all of the momentum in what will effectively be a new, three-game series. The Warriors’ wins in Game 1 and 2 will have been for naught.
Not only can the Warriors reestablish control of his series in Game 4 — Curry can re-establish the narrative around him and his playoff performances in that game, too.
Today’s game is pivotal for this series and all eyes will be on Curry.
No matter what he does, it’ll be a statement. Right or wrong, fair or not, people will place an outsized value on how he performs.
So what’s it going to be? Redemption or a return trip to Houston?