Warriors vs. Rockets: Stephen Curry's free pass is about to be missed, as is his time with Kevin Durant

This has somewhat disappeared in recent years, but there is a long story extremely misinformed that Stephen Curry does not appear in the playoffs. This has never been close to the truth. What has been true is that Curry has been closer to the human being in the playoffs, which is understandable. The defenses become more difficult. He is plotted for no mercy. He naturally gets a double and even a triple team. Nevertheless, he has better numbers in series than Kobe Bryant, on much more effective clips.

The reason it's necessary to point out the flaws of Curry's previous playoffs is to be very clear about the fact that this 2019 playoff series is something different and that this second-round series against the Houston Rockets is particularly different. Curry was bad. There are not two ways to do it. And not only by its high standards. Just bad. At all levels.

Curry finished Golden State's loss 3 in Game 3 with 17 points on 7 out of 23 shots, including 2 of 9 out of 3, after his first two shots of the game. The Rockets do not do anything special against him. They protect him hard, not giving him any help, changing his screens and doubling from time to time when he was running a pick-and-roll – all the basic covers that he has a lot of habit to see and beat.

The only difference is that it does not beat anyone. At least not always. For the series against Houston, he is 8-in-32 out of 3. The Curry is gone for a long time. It seems to be able to create space at any time. Whether it's because playing with Kevin Durant is out of this rhythm is perhaps a debate, but we hardly see it anymore. Even when he beats the switches or gets to the rim, he does not finish the same thing in these playoffs. In the third game, Curry missed seven shots in the restricted zone, a record for only one player in a playoff game over the past 20 years, by ESPN. Viewing:

Curry was in the opening game of the playoffs against the Clippers, rising from 8 out of 12 to 3. From that point on, he shoots just 35% of downtown. He is constantly in trouble. It does not make a significant impact as a playmaker for others. Golden State plays mainly with him since the beginning of the match. His impact comes from his goals and his defensive attention. He will always make this last choice, which partly explains that even his mediocre statistical games are often criticized by ignorance, given the impact that his mere presence and willingness to move without a ball have constantly on the games.

But again, it's different. He plays really badly in this series. He looks more and more like a guy who does not contribute a ton when he does not hit any shots – and he does not hit a lot of shots. Durant can not do everything. Houston is back in this series at 2-1 with match 4 on Monday, and if James Harden is going to be criticized then he's not playing well in playoffs (which he has not done a lot this year), Curry must be kept at the same fire. This "dunk" missed at the end of the fourth quarter was simply inexcusable:

Look at the time and mark there. This bucket would have reduced the Rockets' lead to three with 20 seconds to play. This game was far from over, and Curry thinks it's the right time to prove that he can dunk? This is not the first time Curry has done it too. On several occasions, he was stoned by the edge, trying to prove that he was a big boy. Just put the ball. Take the two points. Wish Houston and see what happens.

To Curry's credit, he made no excuses after the match. He stated that the finger that he had dislocated on the left hand during the second match had nothing to do with the way he had played. In truth, he did not play very well before the finger injury. And other than that, Harden looks like a cat who has upset his eye, and he just put 41. Usually, when Curry has a single shooter, you can count on him for it to flare up next time. But it has actually been more prone to clusters of bad shooter games this season than at any time in the last five years.

"He's coming off a tough night," Steve Kerr said after the match. "No matter how good you are, you're going to have bad games."

Curry has now had more of a bad part. More than a few, actually. And the Warriors are another defeat on Monday after being seriously stranded when they returned to Oakland in a tie-free streak and a Houston team in search of blood. Over the past three years, there has been much questioning whether the Warriors were the Curry or Durant team. For the most part, it was a silly question. They have both been so good that it does not matter. Make your choice. But for now, Curry just does not get enough weight. The warriors would be sunk without Durant. And that could be the last year they have it.