Dec 4, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives past New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik (3) during the second quarter at the Smoothie King Center. Photo Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The ultimate of ugly irony hit the Golden State Warriors when Stephen Curry rolled his ankle with just over a minute remaining in Monday night’s 125-115 win over New Orleans. He was going to try to steal a pass to E’Twaun Moore, but his foot landed at an angle and immediately he was helped from the floor and into the locker room.
Ironically, the first game of his absence was the Warriors’ 101-87 win in his home town of Charlotte on Wednesday. Over his career, Curry has posted some magical games against the Hornets, while the majority of the fans in Spectrum Center usually are wearing Curry jerseys and Warriors gear, and are cheering for Curry and Golden State.
“The way he catches off the shoot and off the dribble and off the catch cannot be duplicated by any other player who ever played the game,” said Warriors all-star Kevin Durant, who recorded a triple-double in the win, “You have to figure out how you plug in what we are missing from Steph, but if we do collectively with confidence, then we will feel comfortable playing in these situations.”
Coach Steve Kerr agrees in that he knows this will be a learning experience as Curry is shelved for at least two weeks, much like Durant’s absence due to injury last season.
“Last year without K.D., those first two games, we struggled,” said Kerr, “Then we settled in and played well. A team like ours will respond well without Steph. You feel threatened. All of a sudden you are without one of your best guys, so you are vulnerable. When you are vulnerable, you tend to put your guard up a bit.”
The options are numerous for Golden State and its star-studded line-up. The key is for players to get comfortable in playing different roles and being used in the same sets, but potentially in a different way. Once again, Shaun Livingston will be earmarked to start multiple games for Curry. Kerr though will assess that idea game by game.
“Having Shaun, having Andre (Iguodala) and multiple guys that can handle the blow, it softens the blow quite a bit,” commented Kerr. “Having guys that can orchestrate. Obviously, we are very blessed with a very deep roster and we will use everybody.”
Thinking about the depth on this team, it is built to withstand a blow, albeit for a short time. Steph Curry is the player that Golden State can least do without.
“Steph is the guy that makes us go – we have great players, but Steph is the engine,” explained Kerr. “Everything we do revolves around him, so we are going to have to adapt and execute. In the long run, good thing.”
This type of injury or absence allows others to step up and make different plays. It may call on key players to adapt to zones within the game that are not as comfortable. In that grows potentially a different kind of experience than any of them have had to undertake. That task adds character and adds depth to the greatness of their overall careers.
“We have to step up and play well,” Kerr explained. “Our defense has to be good and we have to value the ball. You know Steph bails us out and have 22 turnovers and we still win because Steph makes four threes in a row in transition. That’s not happening, so we’ve got to execute and be more efficient.”
Durant stepped up in a major way as he finished with 35 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He patrolled the outside of the Charlotte defense and forced the Hornets to switch the screens on the perimeter. Often, the Hornets were late on the switch and in a split second, Durant or Klay Thompson, who finished with 22 points, drained the three-ball.
“I just like his pace, his energy; he was attacking right from the start which was great,” said Kerr of Durant, who is third in the league in block with 1.95 per game.
He scored 14 points over the game’s first eight minutes in pacing the Dubs to a 22-12 lead. Durant scored nine in a row in that opening run. He then posted a quick eight points out of halftime as the Warriors opened up a 64-45 lead. From there, the Warriors consistently made clutch defensive stops to stop several Hornets runs.
“It wasn’t so much vocal leadership as it was, ‘I got this,’ type of thing,” noted Kerr. “I think he (Durant) showed that with Steph out, he almost had a different bounce to his step. He was brilliant.”
