These are facts: Stephen Curry had a really rough Game 3 as the Warriors lost to the Rockets. Curry has not been the Warriors’ best player in this postseason, and has actually been thoroughly overshadowed by Kevin Durant. Curry’s legendary shooting has gone fairly cold in the series against Rockets.
This is a lie: Curry has had a bad postseason and Durant is the only person keeping Golden State in a favorable position.
Lost in Curry’s colder-than-usual series is that he’s still averaging 23 points on 50-40-90 shooting this postseason. Lost in Golden State’s ability to win when Curry isn’t at his best is the fact that the Warriors do historically rely on Steph playing well to be really good.
To wit, per Basketball-Reference, in Curry’s 99 career playoff games, the Warriors are 44-5 when Steph has a Game Score of at least 20 and 25-25 when his Game Score falls below that. If you limit it to the years since Durant arrived (41 playoff games), the Warriors are 20-1 when Curry has a Game Score of at least 20 and 13-7 when it falls below that mark. (Here’s how Game Score is calculated. It’s useful shorthand.)
The Warriors can survive a less-than-excellent Curry performance because of the presence of Durant and the other quasi-stars on the roster. But Golden State is much, much better when Curry is locked in. And he’s not that far off from locking in right now -- he just needs to clean up a few things on offense. If he’s able to do it, that’s instant doom for the rest of the league.
Scores
Raptors 101, Sixers 96
Series tied 2-2
Nuggets 116, Blazers 112
Series tied 2-2
Schedule
Bucks at Cetlics, 7 ET, TNT
Milwaukee leads series 2-1
Warriors at Rockets, 9:30 ET, TNT
Golden State leads series 2-1
Links
Kawhi Leonard is right there with Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo as the star of the playoffs to date. On Sunday, in a crucial Game 4, Leonard had 39 on 13-20 shooting with 14 rebounds in a contest so closely fought that neither team led by more than two possessions in the second half. Series is tied, Toronto’s fate is not yet decided. I don’t know how to process Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons’ box scores.
The Blazers-Nuggets series remains tense! Denver took some semblance of control in the third quarter on Sunday night and held on for dear life as Jamal Murray hit clutch free throws down the stretch. Denver wins, series tied at two, how much can I bet on this series going seven?
Two-time NBA champion Mario Chalmers hit a dagger at the Basketball Champions League final as Virtus Bologna claimed victory over Tenerife. All he does is win titles.
Why did Steph miss that open layup? The Ghost Orphans of the Spaghetti Warehouse, probably.
On Enes Kanter, Ramadan during the playoffs, and international attention.
Lonzo Ball says he idolized LeBron so much that it took him until All-Star to feel comfortable talking to him as a teammate. This is not nothing. Totally understandable, frankly. I have writing colleagues I have “worked” with -- not in the same ultra-live, ultra-personal context as basketball teammates, obviously -- that I am intimidated to talk with.
Be excellent to each other.
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2019/5/6/18530942/stephen-curry-warriors-vs-rockets-kevin-durant-cold-gmib
2019-05-06 11:30:00Z
52780287424278
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar