“Not my finest moment.”
Stephen Curry was talking about his missed dunk, but it could have just as well been about his entire Saturday night. A guy we are used to seeing step up in the game’s big moments did just the opposite in Game 3.
It’s not just that Curry needed 23 shots to get 17 points in Game 3, nor is it just that he shot 2-of-9 from beyond the arc. It’s not even that he shot 2-of-9 at the rim. It was the timing and dramatic nature of all of it — in a game the Warriors could have stolen on the road behind a 46-point night from Kevin Durant and a triple-double from Draymond Green, Curry was just off. Way off. For example, missing a dunk in a key moment late.
Or this defensive lapse.
Those were just a couple off moments in a very off night for Curry.
“I’ll probably be thinking about it tonight, go to sleep, turn the page...” Curry said postgame. "[With the Warriors up 2-1] that’s what you want going into a series against a great team like that. So, I know I’ll be ready.”
Curry dislocated the middle finger of his left (non-shooting) hand in the first quarter of Game 2, but he did not want to blame his rough night on that. This is not just a one-game thing, Curry is 18-of-52 overall in this series, and just 8-for-32 (25 percent) from three.
Not that anybody is genuinely worried about Curry.
“He just had a tough night,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Everybody, no matter how good you are, you’re going to have some bad games. It was just a tough night for him. It didn’t happen.”
The Curry fam isn’t worried, so you shouldn’t be either pic.twitter.com/F0kBKj1Cgm
— Grant Liffmann (@GrantLiffmann) May 5, 2019
Curry is not the only reason the Warriors lost — give the James Harden and the Rockets credit, they were scrappy and made plays. Harden had 41 points, Eric Gordon 30, and they had a more balanced attack than Golden State on the night.
That said, the Warriors need Curry to show up this series. And, maybe just stick to layups.