Friday NBA Roundup: Warriors' Struggles vs. Elites Are Impossible to Ignore

It's not often that a two-time NBA MVP gets overshadowed, let alone one who's helped revolutionize the modern-day NBA.

But that's what's happened to Stephen Curry lately with the likes of Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James and even his own teammate, Kevin Durant, stuffing stat sheets on a nightly basis.

Curry hopped out from the darkness Friday night with a 40-point explosion, but it wasn't enough to keep the Golden State Warriors from salting away a 24-point lead against the Memphis Grizzlies—let alone exact revenge for a 21-point loss to the same team sans Mike Conley on Dec. 10—en route to a 128-119 overtime defeat at Oracle Arena. 

The loss was just the sixth of 2016-17 for the Warriors; however, all but one of those have come against clubs that could give them trouble come playoff time. They were blown out on opening night by the San Antonio Spurs, triple-doubled to submission by Harden's Houston Rockets, nipped by the Cavaliers on Christmas Day and now grit-n-ground twice over by the Grizzlies.

The Dubs' last two losses look eerily similar and speak to the same concerns that could dog them down the line.

Noah Graham/Getty Images

In Cleveland, their defense relaxed, and the team looked shaken against a bigger, more physical opponent as a 14-point lead vanished. Against the Grizzlies, their offense went cold and their passes turned careless (seven turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime) as Memphis began to impose its will.

Curry hit Golden State's only two field goals of the fourth. Meanwhile, Durant (27 points, 13 rebounds, four assists) missed three straight free throws, and Klay Thompson (17 points) bricked a pair at the stripe. All told, the Grizzlies had 20 more field-goal attempts, thanks in part to a 14-7 edge on the offensive glass and just 12 turnovers to the Warriors' 16.

"Tough loss. Bad loss. Hiccup," head coach Steve Kerr said afterward, per The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears. "We have to do better. But we're doing fine."

Kerr may be right. At 31-6, Golden State has a game-and-a-half cushion on the West's No. 1 spot. Heading into tonight's game, the Warriors were a top-three team on both ends of the floor, per NBA.com, and they have enough firepower to engulf just about anyone on a given night.

Still, they clearly have work to do. For all Golden State's success in recent seasons, the team is reshaping its identity—if not around Durant, then certainly with him always close to mind. That can be a blessing when the former MVP finds his groove but a curse when he tries to do it on his own, like he did to Draymond Green's dismay with Golden State up two late.

In the long run, Golden State will be OK. The Warriors have spent the season fitting Durant into their existing framework, largely to great effect. 

But the change has naturally sent ripples, and Curry has bore the brunt. His scoring average has dropped by nearly 20 percent, and he's leaving onlookers in awe less frequently.

Even George "The Iceman" Gervin—a Hall of Famer and scoring legend—had trouble finding room on his own Western Conference All-Star squad for Steph.

"I'm not taking anything from him, man," Gervin told Bleacher Report. "I think the sacrifice that he’s making for Golden State, man, is what’s going to help them get an opportunity to maybe get to the Finals again.

"So I think he recognizes how important that is. He's already shown everybody who he is and what he could be. Now I think he's showing them that he understand the game and understand what he has on his team."

Nobody's forgotten about Curry. But with his taking a slight step back to invite a new world order at Oracle Arena, the Warriors may have forgotten, if only temporarily, what made them great against the NBA's best.

Melo Upstages Euro Showdown in Milwaukee

For the first 45 minutes of Friday's rematch between the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kristaps Porzingis shone as expected at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Greek Freak racked up his nightly supply of spectacular slams and stunning swats as the Bucks built an 18-point lead.

The Unicorn did his part to bring the Knicks back. With New York down seven in the middle of the fourth quarter, Porzingis drained a three, blocked Antetokounmpo at the hoop and hit another triple from 28 feet out to pull his team within a point.

But Porzingis' foul trouble cost him shortly thereafter, when he picked up his sixth battling for a loose ball with Antetokounmpo. He finished with 24 points, six rebounds and three blocks to his Hellenic counterpart's 25, six and five.

New York, though, didn't need Porzingis to pull out a 116-111 win down the stretch. The Knicks closed the game on an 8-0 run, bolstered by a Carmelo Anthony three and a steal by Porzingis' replacement (Lance Thomas) that turned into a Courtney Lee slam. Anthony finished with 26 points (12 in the fourth quarter) and 10 assists—both team highs—to help the Knicks snap a six-game skid and climb back within a game of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Gordon Sets Career Mark in a Flash

Fernando Medina/Getty Images

Eric Gordon had far from his finest night during the Houston Rockets' 100-93 win over the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center. He gave the Rockets 17 points and four assists off the bench but shot 7-of-20 overall and just 3-of-16 from three-point range.

He only needed to hit one bomb to hit a new personal milestone, however.

A 25-foot make off a James Harden pass in the first quarter gave Gordon 142 threes on the season, setting a new career high in just 38 games. Gordon's 144 triples overall are the most in the Association to date. If Houston's injury-prone sharpshooter can stay healthy enough to keep firing away, he could join Dee Brown as one of two players in NBA history to lead the league in three-pointers off the pine.

Brown, who hit 135 triples for the Toronto Raptors during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, finished tied for fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting. Gordon's importance to the 29-9 Rockets' stunning success could be enough to earn him the award, regardless of whether he winds up as the NBA's most prolific three-point shooter in 2016-17.

C's Seize Opportunities from Three

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The Boston Celtics took the old phrase "take what the defense gives you" to its modern logical extreme Friday night.

The Philadelphia 76ers used their size and length to lock down the interior at TD Garden. They blocked 11 Boston shots—including two courtesy of Joel Embiid (23 points, eight rebounds, three assists) and three off the bench by Nerlens Noel (13 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals)—dominating the home team in the paint, 46-18.

But rather than fight a losing battle, Boston took its business outside, where it found ample room to shoot. Avery Bradley (26 points, six threes) led eight C's with made threes en route to a franchise-record 19 triples. None was bigger, though, than the four Al Horford drained during the fourth quarter, including a corner three off a picture-perfect pass from Kelly Olynyk to put Boston ahead for good with 17 seconds left.

"That's exactly how we drew it up," Horford said, per MassLive.com's Jay King. "Like, exactly."

Boston's love of the long ball has been a feature, not a bug, of this season's squad. According to NBA.com, the C's have scored 32.7 percent of their points from beyond the arc—the fourth-highest mark in the league.

Wizards Keep Winning in D.C.

The Washington Wizards had to work hard against the Minnesota Timberwolves to extend their home winning streak to nine games via 112-105 victory.

Andrew Wiggins bounced back from a poor showing in Philadelphia with a game-high 41 points, including 16 during the third quarter to help Minnesota erase a 14-point deficit. Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng both dropped in double-doubles up front, and Brandon Rush contributed 10 points off the bench.

But no star shone as brightly at the Verizon Center as John Wall, who finished one assist shy of his career high with 18 helpers to accompany his 18 points.

Bradley Beal backed up his backcourt mate with 22 points, including a clutch triple from about six feet beyond the arc to put Washington ahead by five with just over a minute to go.

The Wizards head to Milwaukee for a Sunday dance with the Bucks, but they'll be back in D.C. on Tuesday in search of their 10th straight win at the Phone Booth against the Chicago Bulls.

LeBron Does It All in Brooklyn

LeBron James knows better than anyone what the Cleveland Cavaliers need, be it a backup point guard or a big scoring night.

With his team short-handed while awaiting Kyle Korver's arrival (via trade) from Atlanta, James came through on every front in a 116-108 win over the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center.

Rebounds? James had nine of them. Assists? He had six of those. Points? How about 36 on 14-of-20 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.

That scoring output, combined with the 31 he tallied during Cleveland's loss to Chicago on Wednesday, gave James his first set of consecutive 30-point games this season. 

Had the Cavs played even a modicum of defense during the fourth quarter, James and his fellow superstars might've gotten some rest against the worst team in the East. Instead, they'll all be a bit more bleary-eyed as they head clear across the country to face one of the West's weakest links (the Phoenix Suns) at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Sunday.

CP3 Makes History in Return

After sitting out four games with a gimpy hamstring, Chris Paul made up for lost time by climbing up several historic ladders during the Los Angeles Clippers' 106-98 win over the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.

His 14 points put him past Danny Manning into sixth place on the Clippers' franchise scoring list. With three steals, he jumped over Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas into 15th place among the NBA's all-time ball thieves. A dish to Luc Mbah a Moute for a thunderous dunk over DeMarcus Cousins—one of 12 Paul assists on the night—pushed him ahead of Rod Strickland and into the NBA's top 10 in career assists.

The Clippers would be happy to see CP3 stay healthy enough to rewrite as many history books as possible.

L.A. has now won three straight following a six-game skid. With two home games against Miami and Orlando, it can strengthen its spot in the standings—and Paul can pad his stats.

Lakers Brawl Out to Beat Heat

The Los Angeles Lakers know what it's like to play without a complete deck. They came into Friday's game against the Miami Heat sans dunking favorite Larry Nance Jr. and saw their promising 10-10 start buried beneath injuries to D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Nick Young, Tarik Black and Jose Calderon.

Still, you won’t see Lakers fans—least of all Laker Film Room's Pete Zayas—crying for the short-handed Miami Heat after L.A.'s 127-100 win at Staples Center.

Miami began the game without Hassan Whiteside and Justise Winslow because of injuries. In the third quarter, they lost another key player, Goran Dragic, during a tussle with Lakers reserve Jordan Clarkson. Both players were ejected.

From that point on, L.A. crushed Miami, 51-32, cruising to just its fourth victory since November.

Friday's Final Scores

• Washington Wizards 112, Minnesota Timberwolves 105
• Houston Rockets 100, Orlando Magic 93
• Boston Celtics 110, Philadelphia 76ers 106
• Cleveland Cavaliers 116, Brooklyn Nets 108
• New York Knicks 116, Milwaukee Bucks 111
• Memphis Grizzlies 128, Golden State Warriors 119
• Los Angeles Clippers 106, Sacramento Kings 98
• Los Angeles Lakers 127, Miami Heat 100

All stats via NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and listen to his Hollywood Hoops podcast with B/R Lakers lead writer Eric Pincus.