SAN FRANCISCO – Yes, the Warriors are asking too much of Stephen Curry.
And, yes, Curry is asking too much of himself.
And there is no easy solution to either problem.
Curry is trying to will the Warriors out of a prolonged stretch (seven weeks) in which they have a worse record (6-15) than such rebuilding teams as the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets. Golden State is 26th in scoring, 29th in field-goal percentage and dead last in free-throw percentage.
The Warriors, with four-ring champions Draymond Green and Curry, don’t want to be anywhere near the NBA’s cellar-dwellers, much less among them. Nobody seems more determined than Curry to pull them out of the swamp.
Two nights after scoring 26 points without an assist as the Warriors were blown off their home floor by the Sacramento Kings, Curry came back with 31 without an assist in a 16-point home loss to the Miami Heat. Two games, 57 points, zero dimes – despite efforts, some exaggerated, to get teammates involved.
Trying to unlock Buddy Hield, Curry is throwing passes to him at the arc. Hield is shooting 28.4 percent from deep over the past month. He has become tentative despite being an eight-year 3-point specialist. Curry is trying to set up Dennis Schröder in much the same way, feeding him at every opportunity. Schröder, who shot 38.7 percent from distance in Brooklyn, is at 26.4 percent since the Nets traded him to the Warriors.
Golden State Warriors
Curry’s effort is there, and will continue to be there, because he knows neither he nor any player who ever lived can win without help.
“We are a team,” he said late Tuesday night, after the loss to Miami. “And we are tied together. And we are all accountable for the results of each night how our season ends up. It’s not just a ‘me and Draymond’ thing. It’s not just a ‘me’ thing. It’s a ‘we’ thing.
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“So, what we all need to do is play with confidence, play with assertiveness, play with the belief that you step on the floor you can beat anybody. Whether it happens or not, that has to be the mindset. Until things change, it’s a collective unit that’s responsible to win games. That has to be the way we battle our way through it. It can't just be pointing fingers. It can't just be, ‘Oh what are you going to do to help me?’ It has to be, ‘We have to figure it out.’
“That’s the only way it’s going to happen.”
As trade chatter continues unabated, and a deal could improve the roster, no single transaction is likely to vault the Warriors into immediate championship contention. It’s not reasonable to expect any team to grant them that wish.
At 36, Curry hears his career clock ticking. It gets a bit louder with each game and considerably louder with each loss.
Not that he’s willing to announce such an unwelcome admission in public. That would send the wrong message. Too close to concession, and Curry wants no part of anybody’s white flag. If anybody in the Golden State locker room shows the slightest indication of such, he’d politely direct that deserter to the door.
The grind of every season takes a toll, but it’s more painful, downright exasperating, when the losses keep coming.
“I can see it with Steph,” coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday night. “He’s continued to be brilliant, night after night. But at his core, he is a winner. He’s a champion. He wants to compete at the highest level. You saw it a few months ago in Paris. The best of the best, and he takes over the fourth quarter when everything is on the line.
“That’s who he is. That’s what he lives for. And he is really struggling with the emotion of not being competitive right now. He probably hasn’t had to deal with this since his first couple years in the league.”
The Warriors finished 26-56 in 2009-10, Curry’s rookie NBA season. They were 36-46 the next season and 23-43 in the 2011-12 lockout season. They were reached the second round of the NBA playoffs in Year 4, won the NBA Finals in Year 6, the first of five consecutive appearances in the Finals.
Golden State has experienced one losing season since 2011-12, and that was 2019-20, after Kevin Durant left as a free agent, Klay Thompson was in post-ACL surgery rehabilitation and Curry sustained an injury that caused him to miss 77 games.
Losing while playing well despite nagging soreness in both knees – and with Green alongside him – is tearing tiny holes in Curry’s cape.
“When you experience winning, you hate losing even more,” Curry said Tuesday night. “Because you know what it takes to get there. And if you don’t have the answers, it’s a rough feeling on the night-to-night, especially when nights like tonight happen.”
Through tough times, there is one quality about Curry that never wavers. He sheds setbacks in seconds, always believing success is next. So, when I asked him how he could remain confident that the Warriors would find their way to the postseason, his reply was predictable:
“Because there’s more games to play. We’re going to put that jersey on [Thursday] and walk out of the locker room with the confidence that we’re going to win the game. We’re professional basketball players. It’s our job. That’s what we’re going to do.”
The Pistons are on the schedule Thursday night in Detroit. The Pistons are 19-18 and have won eight of their last nine games, while the Warriors have lost six of their last nine. Curry expects his team will leave the arena with a winning record.
If the Warriors meet that expectation, they will have lent him a much-appreciated hand.
