Warriors Learning What They Must Fix in Stephen Curry's Absence

Without Stephen Curry, cracks in the Golden State Warriors' previously unblemished facade were bound to start showing eventually.

In a 97-96 loss to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center in Game 3 Thursday, they finally did. And now, with the Rockets showing the first signs of life in a first-round series that felt over before it began, the Warriors must set about repairing the breaches.

Houston put the Warriors on their heels immediately, built a 13-point first-quarter advantage and did just enough to stave off second-half runs to survive. James Harden scored 35 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out nine assists. His game-winning shot with 2.7 seconds remaining helped Houston avert disaster.

Even if many of his teammates didn't seem to care:

Dwight Howard was fantastic whenever head coach J.B. Bickerstaff let him see the floor—active, quick, decisive and more focused than he'd been at any previous point in the series.

His 13 points and 13 rebounds were reflections of the way he manhandled Andrew Bogut underneath, securing deep position on offense at will. On the other end, Howard summoned spurts of agility and anticipation not seen since sometime in 2010.

Bickerstaff curiously kept him glued to the bench during the game's most crucial late-stage sequences, though.

For their part, after running over, around and through a disinterested Rockets team in Game 2 without Curry, the Warriors showed little of the same cohesive excellence in this one.

Struggling to score or create sufficient space without the MVP's offensive gravity, Golden State's offense sputtered—especially with the Rockets blanketing Klay Thompson away from the ball, denying possession and forcing others to fire. After pumping in 34 points in Game 2, Splash Brother No. 2 managed only 17 on 7-of-20 shooting, missing all seven of his three-point attempts Thursday.

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You can run down the list of the Warriors' usual contributors, and precious few measured up.

Draymond Green played perhaps his worst game of the season, hitting just three of his nine shots and turning it over seven times. Harrison Barnes was routinely torched by whoever he was guarding and couldn't create his own looks offensively. Andre Iguodala was disengaged and a step slow. Bogut struggled to contain Howard. Festus Ezeli was wound too tight and somehow still hesitant at the same time.

And yet it took Harden's mid-range step-back with 2.7 ticks left to seal the win. And that shot was only necessary because Trevor Ariza threw away an inbounds pass that allowed a breakaway layup, giving Golden State the lead with 10 seconds remaining.

Green fumbled the inbound on the Warriors' final possession and could only watch, dejected, as it rolled out of bounds. Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group said what every Warriors fan was thinking:

This wasn't a disaster, as it almost resulted in a win, but it was a game that showed the Warriors' frailties without Curry.

The obvious fix (and the one the Warriors would most like to employ) is getting Curry back in the lineup.

The MVP did his best to see action before Game 3 but was overruled by a collective that included head coach Steve Kerr, general manager Bob Myers and a group of staff and trainers, per Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group: "We kind of teamed up on him," the head coach said. "He wanted to play, but he's also very practical and he understands the thinking and he understands that better safe than sorry."

If he's not ready to go for Game 4 Sunday, the Warriors will have to consider alternatives.

A good start would be channeling the defensive intensity they showed in the second half for the entire game.

Houston jumped the Warriors, exploited botched switches and stayed on the attack early. And because Golden State couldn't force turnovers or generate consistent stops, its transition offense never got going. Without Curry to supercharge half-court possessions, the Dubs need those scattered situations to score.

Stringing together a few stifling stretches shouldn't be hard. Golden State did it in the second half, ultimately limiting the Rockets to 39.1 percent shooting for the game. Lest we forget, the Dubs were the best defensive team in the league last year, and they cranked up the intensity to even higher levels at times this season.

Golden State might also consider going smaller. Ezeli has been shaky in this series, and Marreese Speights' obvious scoring chops (he led the team with 22 points) could provide a boost. Kerr used Speights as his first big off the bench for much of the season but has shied away from it against Houston. After his big night in Game 3, Speights may have done enough to earn a move up the rotational ladder.

More time with Green at center could work, too. If it's transition chances the Warriors want, slotting in a beastly pace-pusher at the 5 would surely help. Few frontcourt players are faster or more dangerous in the open floor, and if Green's presence in the middle invites more post-ups from Howard, the Warriors will gladly take that over Harden working them over from the perimeter.

If Golden State can't get the stops or shrink the lineup enough to create breakaway opportunities, it could still find more efficient ways to score without Curry.

Ball movement will be critical, and Kerr harped on it all game, per CSN Bay Area's Rosalyn Gold-Onwude:

No revelation: It'll take a collective effort to compensate for Curry's absence and/or weakened condition going forward.

The good news is the Warriors didn't lose two in a row all season, and they never let the same team beat them twice. It seems unlikely the Rockets will become the first to check both of those boxes, but with Curry's health still uncertain, we can't pretend these Warriors are the same as those Warriors.

Golden State must also hope the Rockets it's facing now are the same Rockets who followed up every promising regular-season flash with an equally deflating flop. If the Warriors get an even slightly less focused version of the Rockets in Game 4, and Thompson hits, say, one three-point shot instead of zero, the Dubs will be in business.

Or, as B/R's Adam Fromal framed it:

The farther ahead you look, though, the hazier the Warriors' future becomes. Without Curry, it's hard to see them getting past the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round. And anything beyond that feels even less feasible.

For now, the Dubs have a 2-1 lead and a whole lot of game tape on how not to play. Still, if Curry isn't ready to return or isn't at full strength for Game 4, those cracks had better be patched.

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Stats courtesy of NBA.com.