Warriors Proving They're More Than Just Stephen Curry in Quest for NBA Title
The Golden State Warriors are worse without Stephen Curry, but Monday's 115-106 Game 2 win over the Houston Rockets proved that's a relative term.
Worse, in this case, was still good—good enough to take care of business against a fragmented Rockets squad and good enough to extend the Dubs' series advantage to 2-0 without the MVP on the floor.
Curry tweaked his right ankle in Game 1, gave pregame warmups a go and didn't feel good enough to suit up Monday. So his teammates set about reminding us of all the things Steph's brilliance so often makes us forget.
Andre Iguodala, always a steadying influence, proved he could be more when necessary. After watching his early outburst, which included four made triples in his first five attempts and the ridiculous end-to-end-to-end sequence below, a sudden jolt of realization hit: Iguodala isn't in a bench role with Golden State because he's no longer capable of being a star.
He's in that spot voluntarily, because head coach Steve Kerr liked what he brought off the pine and asked him to make the switch last year.
He finished with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
Plenty of others chipped in, too.
Andrew Bogut was an absolute force inside, changing shots and moving deftly from block to block in perfect help harmony with the rest of the dialed-in defense. He was vital to the win, per NBA analyst Nate Duncan:
Shaun Livingston got the start for Curry and scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, running the floor for graceful, rangy finishes and punishing Houston's guards in the post.
Draymond Green was his typical self, piling up 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists to go with obscene hustle, lockdown defense against opponents at all five positions and the requisite amount of flexing. He did it all carefully, per GSW Stats:
And of all the reminders the Warriors' supporting cast served, Klay Thompson with his 34 points on 8-of-20 shooting was probably the one that mattered most. Despite featuring as Golden State's biggest scoring threat, the less heralded Splash Brother flashed shot-creation skills and a still-blossoming total game Curry so often overshadows.
Thompson showed it all: pull-ups in the lane, flips on the run, tough finishes on cuts and, most remarkably, an eye for creating contact. He made a career-high 15 of 16 shots from the foul line.
The Rockets were mostly bad, though. Houston's mailed-in defensive effort and blatant interpersonal discord have to be factored, as Eric Freeman of Yahoo Sports observed:
That's fair.
But remember the Warriors were outscored by 3.7 points per 100 possessions when Curry sat out this season, per NBA.com. And note, too, the Rockets outscored Golden State by two points in the time Curry sat during Game 1 (the Warriors were plus-28 when Steph played, just for reference).
In light of those numbers, Golden State did some serious trend-bucking Monday.
And though the Warriors certainly hope they don't have to find out how sustainable their sans-Curry effectiveness might be, there's reason to believe they can do something like this for at least the balance of this first-round series.
Firstly, Houston looks like a defeated team. We don't need to harp on that. If you watched the blown assignments and sour expressions in either of the first two games, you get it.
The other part's a little more interesting: Golden State spent the season playing transcendent basketball in spurts, but then coasting against weak competition, assured Curry was there to shoot them spectacularly to victory. He almost always did.
The Warriors knew Curry wouldn't be there to bail them out in this one, and, well...it's funny what knowing there won't be a deus ex machina moment can do to your start-to-finish focus. Golden State didn't expect salvation from on high, so it valued possessions, defended with purpose and generally played with the sustained intensity you'd expect from a mortal playoff team.
There was nothing mortal about the Warriors during the regular season, so this is a change for them. And it might be a good one, even if it's only a temporary reminder of the effort it will require later in the playoff run.
Despite the comfortable win, cracks showed occasionally.
The Dubs struggled to score with either Thompson or Green out of the lineup, and Harrison Barnes was worryingly ineffective against substandard—and often mismatched–defenders. He finished 1-of-10 from the field and missed the freedom created by Curry's gravity more than anyone else. If the Warriors have to go without Curry over a longer stretch, Barnes must be a bigger threat from the perimeter and on the block.
We can't mistake Golden State's impressive come-together win as proof Curry's overrated or this team would survive without him. Obviously, this is not a long-term playoff strategy.
But it does raise some intriguing short-term questions.
Do the Warriors play it extra safe and rest Curry for Game 3 in Houston? The series feels secure now, but is it worth the gamble of giving back a Game 3 win and letting the Rockets experience signs of life? Extending the series by gambling (and potentially losing) could tax a Warriors team that pushed itself to the limit in pursuit of 73 regular-season wins.
Perhaps Curry, after five days off between Game 1 and 3, will be fit enough to go. And if he can contribute without risk of further injury, there's probably some value in gunning for a sweep. He and the rest of the Dubs could use the long break between series that a 4-0 result would provide.
Whatever they choose, it's perfectly fitting after a season caught between the shorter-term chase for 73 and the big-picture issue of a title pursuit, the Warriors again find themselves facing a now-or-later conundrum. Certainty is in short supply, per Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com:
The smart money would seem to be on resting Curry until he's absolutely ready to return...and then making him wait another game just to be safe.
Maybe that's scary, but it's even scarier to look past this series at a potential matchup with Chris Paul or Damian Lillard in the second round. Curry can't enter into battle with either of those guys if he's still hobbled. And rushing him back now, when his teammates have bought time and perhaps even sewn up the series without him, seems foolish.
The Warriors reminded us they're still pretty darn good without Curry.
But they'll need him back to be great.
Follow @gt_hughes on Twitter.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com.
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