The San Antonio Spurs held off the Golden State Warriors last night 112-107 in a game that looked like GSW would be blown out until a furious late rally made it close. The Spurs pounced on the Dubs early with a 36-21 run in the first quarter that effectively kept the Warriors in survival mode for the rest of the game.
But all things considered, the Dubs didn’t play that terribly. They only had 12 turnovers, one of the rare times this season Dub Nation can’t immediately blame that for a loss.
They also held the Spurs to 47% shooting, continuing a phenomenal statistical streak where no team has shot 50% or greater from the field against GSW’s shorthanded defense. For comparison, the Los Angeles Lakers have already allowed that to happen five times so far this season. The Dubs even limited the Spurs to 13 points in the final quarter, a jolly good defensive effort to make the game interesting down the stretch.
And offensively the Warriors actually shot the ball well, going 33-of-62 from the field which is a stellar 53%. Okay that stat doesn’t tell the whole story, as those stats reflect the shooting of all the Warriors players except Stephen Curry whose ice-cold 7-of-28 performance submarined the Dubs overall numbers to 44% shooting. Curry was 5-of-17 from beyond the arc as well; not a great night for a great player.
Curry, arguably the most terrifying scorer in NBA history, has had a rough three game patch. Some of those attempts are insanely high degree of difficulty for 99% of all other hoopers, but Curry’s made a career out of cooking dudes 30-feet from the basket and hitting shots that make the Harlem Globetrotters’ jaws drop.
So that’s two games against the defensive minded, reigning Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns led by the wizened old nemesis Chris Paul + a game against the ancient genius Gregg Popovich’s Spurs. Definitely a good test for the two-time MVP!
Wasn’t Popovich one of the first major proponents of the switching defense to keep defenders constantly glued to Curry at all times? We see that defense from pretty much everyone now, but Pop was the guy who made it en vogue.
So yeah, Curry’s numbers didn’t look great in those three games and the Dubs lost two of ‘em in the final minute. The solution:
A.) Curry stops missing shots he’d normally make
B.) The Warriors get their Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala back to take some of the weight off his shoulders.
Case closed. Per StatHead, there’s been five games in Curry’s career where he shot 25% or worse on at least 20 shot attempts. The odd thing is three of them have occured this season: against the Spurs, Suns, and the Lakers.
(For fun, I checked out how many such games James Harden has had: ten. And then you know I had to check Russell Westbrook too: sixteen. Gotta love the confidence!)
The Warriors are a fantastic 19-4, but 1-2 in games where Curry is shooting like me when I’m stoned and frustratedly shoving a fistful of dollars at the attendant in front of those tricky little carnival basketball hoops at Great America. I’m not leaving without winning one of those big stuffed animals for my lady, I don’t give a damn how many kids are waiting behind me in line!
Buuuut I’ll never have the arrogance to miss my first nine shots and then shoot one from 30 feet away and TURN AWAY before it goes in.
My big takeaway is this Warriors team can have horrendous scoring nights from Curry while several key rotation guys out and somehow still be sooo close to surviving with the W the final minute of these losses. That’s a sign this team is a tough out even at their most vulnerable, which bodes well as the season rolls on and they get closer to full strength.
Also, pray for the Orlando Magic tomorrow. I don’t expect Curry to shoot 25% against them bahahahah.
Too much space.
https://mobile.twitter.com/warriors/status/1467644598478467072
Do you even expect Steph to play against Orlando?