The Stephen Curry injury talk isn’t going away.
The Golden State Warriors find themselves in a 3-1 hole against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after a 118-94 loss Tuesday. Said loss saw Curry go for 19 points on a miserable 6-of-20 shooting night.
As expected, the aftermath has brought up talk about his knee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical
“He’s playing at 70 percent, at best,” a source close to Curry told The Vertical. Curry refuses to make excuses, but privately the Thunder see something – no explosion, no ability to make the bigs switching onto him pay a price. Twenty points on 19 shots Tuesday night bore no resemblance to the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
Nobody would suggest the Warriors reduce Curry’s playing time to remove the alleged liability on the defensive end of the court. But such a potential issue is a death wish against a team boasting Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. ESPN Stats & Info provided a chilling stat on Curry’s performance:
Stephen Curry was 2-7 on uncontested shots (incl. 0-5 from beyond the arc) his worst such % this season in which he got at least 5 attempts.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 25, 2016
Curry won’t shoot like that every night, but if the guys around him continue to do so the season is as good as over.
Granted, if anyone can climb out of a 3-1 hole it’s the Warriors. But adjustments and better shooting have to come in a hurry or this run will only go down as a “what could have been” with a bit of history making in the regular season.
