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Criticism Stephen Curry is often a fine line and slightly stride, especially among Warriors fans. But this beautiful line has become rather blurry after the third match, where Curry had one of his worst performances in the playoffs, if not the worst. It was a nightmare of a performance that can be summed up in one statement: it just did not show up against the Rockets.
Putting a line of statistics of 17 points on a shot at 7-in-23 (30.4%) and 2-in-9 over a distance of three points (22.2%) is not enough. The Warriors needed more from the double MVP, the world's leading leader and considered one of the top three players in the world – but what they received from him was well below normal .
It's a recurring pattern every time Curry does not surprise people with a great game, which is always expected from someone of his stature and his pedigree. Despite his difficulties, people anticipate that he will eventually bounce and explode in the manner of the Human Torch, offering a performance worthy of the MVP that will finally show what he has always been able to.
In this series against the Rockets, people have been waiting for such an explosion. And after the third match, they are still waiting.
People cite Curry's outstanding advanced measures as proof of its importance for the Warriors offense. In qualifying for the third match, Curry still averaged 23.3 points on a .474 / .423 / .979 shooting split, with a .680 actual shooting percentage.
This importance is always undeniable – its gravity alone, even when it is on the ground and tries to open, distorts the defense and reduces it, offering his teammates the opportunity to play or score without any resistance.
But Curry has a notorious tendency to be passive. He spends too much time without the ball in his hands, does not ask enough and chooses to hand over to his superstar comrades. Once he does not get the desired freedom out of the ball – what opposing defenses have more and more the habit of doing it willingly or forcefully – Curry gives up and the others have to do something from You're welcome.
Being selfless has its own merits and it's something to admire, especially for someone of its stature. But just as its opposite, disinterestedness finally reaches a descending point of return. When this is done too often, it stops being beneficial and begins to be detrimental. Curry is more than capable of handling the ball and acting as a channel, the center of concern to which all eyes on the defense must pay attention – it is simply a question of will and will.
To Curry's credit, while he still tended to blend into the background, he also had his moments of individuality on the offensive. Exploiting mismatches against big men such as Clint Capela and Nene, Curry got the matches he wanted. When the Warriors' defense was able to stop, Curry was able to run in transition, where he was virtually free.
For once, passivity and lack of aggression were not Curry's main problems in the third game. He made 23 shots and 9 shots, and was able to make his way to the rim.
The problem, however, was that the shots did not fall. He had his share of offensive success, and for someone who relies heavily on pace and momentum, it's not so much of a surprise that Curry does not hum on the offensive if he fails not to establish such crucial factors.
Just as Curry increases his power levels with each basket manufactured and each pointer with three points, the pendulum can also swing in the opposite direction. For every missed shot, every turnaround, and every blame attributed to him, Curry's momentum dies of a slow and painful death, which often leads him to falter at the most important moments.
Six of those missed shots were blank shots, all of which told how the Curry night was going.
With the exception of the first miss by Draymond Green, Curry's misses cost the Warriors 10 points, which could have contributed greatly to a potential victory. Five of those six missed shots came from his dominant uninjured hand, which evaded any idea of using his injury as a potential excuse to finish in half-heartedness.
"I do not know, you'll have to ask him," Steve Kerr said of Curry's injury that could affect his performance. "He obviously struggled tonight and it was not his night. It would not be fair for me to speculate how much his finger was bothering him. "
When Curry himself was questioned about it, he ended his discussions about the fact that his injury would have an impact on his missed shots.
"I just have to do these," Curry said. "If I'm playing, I have to produce, and that did not happen tonight."
The production may not come from Curry, but from three of his teammates. Kevin Durant earned 46 points and 6 assists with no change, constantly pleading for the title of best player in the world. Green had a triple-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. (Before this defeat, the Warriors had an unbelievable 27-0 record every time Green made a triple-double).
Even Andre Iguodala had an outstanding offensive output, scoring 16 points and defeating 3 of his 4 attempts out of the arc, including a decisive breakthrough that gave the Warriors two points ahead with less than a minute of regularity.
Even though Durant was able to beat all the other players in the league – including Curry – in the world's best player discussions, that does not detract from Curry's importance to the Warriors. It is always the engine that keeps the machine running, the singularity in a black hole where the gravitational attraction is at its maximum. Warriors need him to be the focal point, though he does not have to be the one to finish the games (even if he has to finish when the opportunity comes).
Warriors will definitely make adjustments as a team at both ends of the ground. Defensively, the Warriors were well below their usual criteria, allowing the Rockets to shoot 48.4% of the field and allowing the Rockets to beat 18 of 42 attacks, or 42.9%. They also gave up 17 offensive rebounds, giving the Rockets additional possessions to maintain or extend their lead.
Curry himself did not have a very good night in defense, his biggest shortfall coming from this possession, he leaves Austin Rivers inexplicably open and allows him to reverse an undisputed look from behind.
Offensively, the Warriors may have to let Curry handle the ball more often in the half-court. Theoretically, the fact that Curry manages the ball and touches it further would give him more rhythm opportunities, allowing him to attract attention in attack and allowing Durant and Thompson to score more easily. Alternatively, the Warriors might need to find new ways to exploit Curry's gravity – the Rockets' defense has done an outstanding job in putting an end to his off-ball actions through heavy switching.
If the Warriors want to close the Rockets as soon as possible, they will have to find a way to advance Curry. But it's also a two-way street; Curry himself will also have to find ways to score, to be the center of the Warriors' offensive universe, as he has always been.
"Very confident in him. We know what Steph can do, "said Green when asked to trust Curry. "I became tall to expect that. You do not really expect a guy to spend a night like him. Steph must continue to be Steph, continue to shoot basketball, whether he has trouble or not. When he is on the ground, he opens up a lot of things for everyone, so he always has an impact that way. We know that his shots will start to fall. "
The moment has come, the time has come for Curry to live up to his stature, to prove to those who are ready to judge him for a singular night of misfitness and to help the Warriors solve a pesky problem. but determined team that is eager to extract more blood than the drop that they managed to tap last night.
Curry has always been praised and praised as being better, as this famous hashtag on Twitter says. As the series moves towards a crucial game 4, it is all the more crucial as it proves that it is really better than others.
Six wins, there are 10 left.
Stay in gold, Dub Nation.
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