Say the following to the Golden State Warriors: they don’t give up. It was a defining feature of the franchise over five consecutive slots in the finals and three championships, and now, even while the Warriors are performing minor miracles to simply step on the water at the Western Conference, the fabric of resilience remains.
On Friday, the Warriors overcame a 22-point handicap in the second half to slightly stun the Clippers, 115-105. Don’t look now, but Golden State is 5-4, good enough for fifth place in the tight West, after having endured a rather brutal schedule to start the 2020-21 season, including six games against the Nets, Bucks. , Clippers and Blazers.
As for the MVP candidates at the start of the season, Stephen Curry is at the top of the list, or almost. Curry had 38 points on Friday, raising his season average to 30.5, the second best mark in the championship. He hit 9 out of 14 trios. He was old Curry at closing time, taking several triple acts of magic from his bag to seal the victory.
Curry added 11 assists to his ledger, none more impressive than this:
“Pass the drug,” said Damion Lee, the recipient and finisher of this coin. “That highlight is probably very sick.”
In fact, Curry’s whole night was pretty sick, but before we go on, a toast to the Golden State bench, which cut the Clippers’ lead and even gave the Warriors a small but significant cushion just in time for Curry to come back -in for the second half of the fourth quarter and close things up.
|
BANK PLAYER |
MINUTES |
IMPACT |
|
Mychal Mulder |
19 |
+27 |
|
Damion Lee |
22 |
+22 |
|
Eric Paschall |
20 |
+21 |
|
Kent Bazemore |
20 |
+16 |
|
Kevon Looney |
12 |
+10 |
|
Brad Wanamaker |
16 |
+6 |
When Curry sat down to start the fourth half, the Warriors lost six. When he returned to the game with less than six minutes to play, they were three. If the Warriors can, throughout the season, simply step into the water when Curry is on the bench, they will be difficult. If the bank can really be an incentive, they can be a problem.
In addition to the bench, Andrew Wiggins was once again a positive factor, scoring 16 points out of 5 out of 10 shots, including 2 out of 5 out of three. Wiggins is shooting at just under 41 percent of three so far, and his ability to create a one-on-one attack – although mostly of the intermediate jump type holding his breath – has been a beacon as Curry is relentlessly tracked out of ball. If Kelly Oubre ever finds her game, which looks positively headed for Europe right now, the Warriors may really have something forming. Draymond Green was a godsend.
Still, in the end, it all comes down to Curry, who has to walk a fine line to hunt his own shot and trust his inferior teammates. It is not easy to do the latter. I don’t think there is a single superstar in the league who could be as patient as Curry has been with the shortcomings of his support cast and continue to involve them, but Curry is playing a long game knowing that even he cannot do everything himself.
But again, it’s a fine line. Curry started early and didn’t double his pace, and the next thing you knew the Clippers were up 20. Yes, the Warriors got out of the hole this time, but this is not a sustainable recipe. Anyone watching Golden State up close knows the difference between Curry playing as just another cog in the system and the urgency of a guy who knows it’s his team’s only chance. The following quotes show that Curry is fully aware of his need to damage this delicate dynamic:
“They were sending bodies against me everywhere, and you have to find that balance – I’ve been talking about it all year – to take what the defense gives, make the right basketball game and try to involve everyone, but still be aggressive to score, “said Curry. “It took him a minute to click. If I can make moves and build momentum to score basketball, there will probably be a little more attention in my way, and they know that I will try to make the right move all the time and get guys going, take opportunities for guys. “
“It’s that delicate balance of being reckless and overly aggressive, where you get in trouble – I think I got a load trying to face all five guys at the start of the third quarter – versus being smart with the ball, hunting my chance, but also sort of interpreting the situation and being a little more careful about it, “Curry said in a separate response. “Obviously, it is my responsibility to find that out.”
In fact, it is too much to ask Curry to play hunting, a way almost desperate for an entire game, let alone night after night, and that is probably unsustainable. But he cannot be too far from this type of approach. When he does that, the Warriors are a dangerous team, 5-0 so far this season, when Curry scores at least 30 points.
They are 0-4 when he doesn’t.
We tend to make basketball difficult in our microanalysis of statistics that half the world doesn’t even understand. The simple numbers above tell the story of the Warriors. When Curry is the best player on the ground, they are good. Or at least competitive. When he’s not, they can look like a lottery team.
If the advanced stats are more for you, Curry has a usage rate of 35 on the Warriors’ five wins and less than 28 on the four losses. Translation: give the ball to him as often as humanly possible. Once he has it, it’s up to him to press the issue. On Friday, Curry flirted with the long wait to establish his dominance, but he and the Warriors bank succeeded in the end. Silently, the Golden State may be building something.