SAN FRANCISCO — In the Golden State Warriors’ biggest wins this season — at Boston, at Oklahoma City, at home against the Mavericks, at Minnesota the other night — Steph Curry pulled them across the finish line with a flurry of separation 3s in crunch time. However flawed, that’s been this team’s formula. Keep the game close enough with defense and rely on the 36-year-old legend to provide the necessary offensive boost late.
But Curry has slipped into a bit of a slump. Even counting that surge against the Timberwolves on Saturday night, he is shooting 38 percent in eight December games, creaky numbers that began right around the time his knee tendinitis started popping up on the injury report.
“I could be a lot better,” Curry said. “And I will be.”
The Warriors had their chance to beat the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. Curry re-entered with 4:43 left and the score tied at 97. The Pacers face-guarded him with Andrew Nembhard and swarmed him all over the court. He used that extra attention to set up a Dennis Schröder layup with 1:18 left.
But Curry, despite the constant defensive attention, did free himself up for three looks in the final four minutes. With 4:30 left, he cut backdoor but curiously overshot the rim on a wide-open lefty layup. With 2:53 left, he lost Nembhard with a quick cut to the top of the key and a Trayce Jackson-Davis screen. But he back-rimmed the attempted 3 that would’ve tied it.
Then with 47 seconds left, trailing 106-104, Curry dribbled into a stepback 3 from the left corner for the lead. He missed it to the right. The Warriors would never get another chance to tie it. The Pacers hit a dagger 3 on the next possession. Curry finished 2 of 13 shooting and the Warriors lost 111-105.
“We’re being defended a certain way, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” Curry said. “You just got to understand when to pick and choose your spots based on the attention you get. Get the ball moving, try to find a rhythm a little earlier. That might be a little bit of an adjustment but something I’ve been through and always try to find a way to bounce back.”
Curry mentioned the need to be more aggressive earlier in the game, noting that could mean putting him on the ball more often in the first quarter. Curry didn’t take a first-quarter shot against the Pacers and only had four in the first half, missing all of them.
“I’ll find a way,” Curry said.
The arrival of Schröder hasn’t been a quick fix. Schröder has been frigid in his first three games with the Warriors, shooting 8-of-29 combined, including 1-of-11 on 3s. They’ve been outscored by 65 points with him on the court. Kerr has been complimentary of Schröder’s leadership and called him a “streaky” shooter, believing a hot stretch would arrive soon.
This offense needs it. They are currently 15th in the NBA in offensive rating and 25th in offensive rating in their last 13 games. This loss put them to 3-10 during that stretch, dropping them from the top of the conference to currently eighth. They are a half-game behind a Lakers team that will be in Chase Center on Christmas night.
Jonathan Kuminga was the night’s brightest spot. After his role was minimized again during the recent road trip, he turned in a pair of low-energy performances that had Kerr indirectly criticizing his shot selection postgame. Kerr said before Monday’s game that those comments were at least partially directed at Kuminga.
“I’m not going to stop coaching (him),” Kerr said. “The last two games, his field goal attempts, his decision making has been poor. That needs to improve.”
Kerr wants Kuminga to cut out the contested mid-range jumpers with time still left on the shot clock. They want Kuminga attacking downhill. He did that against the Pacers, scoring 26 points. Twenty of them came either at the rim or the free-throw line. The other six came on two in-rhythm catch-and-shoot 3s.
“We love when JK plays like this,” Kerr said.
Kuminga also had eight rebounds and four assists. He played 30 minutes off the bench and was part of a small-ball closing group next to Curry, Schröder, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green — a five-man lineup that’d make sense on most nights if there isn’t a bruising center opposing Green on the other side.
(Photo: Eakin Howard / Imagn Images)
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