Steph Curry is the NBA’s most impactful fourth-quarter player right now
Warriors star Steph Curry's fourth-quarter numbers show why they've had
success in NBA playoffs
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 9: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) celebrates after making a free-throw attempt in the fourth
quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. The
Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 101-98. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 9: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) celebrates after making a free-throw attempt in the fourth
quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. The
Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 101-98. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 10, 2022 at 2:33 p.m. | UPDATED: May 10, 2022 at 3:46 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/10/steph-curry-is-the-nbas-most-impactful-fourth-quarter-player-right-now/

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors were minutes away from a potentially
series-shifting loss.

Grizzlies star Ja Morant, out for Game 4 with knee soreness, wasn’t
standing in their way. A 30-point win in Game 3 wasn’t the momentum
shifter it seemed to be. With coach Steve Kerr out due to COVID-19, the
Warriors were listless. And down 10 points two minutes into the fourth
quarter, they didn’t seem to have an answer.

Steph Curry entered midway through the fourth with a reminder: In the
playoffs, he always has an answer. Even if it’s subtle.

Without panic, Curry dropped 18 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter
to lead Golden State to a 101-98 Game 4 win and a commanding 3-1 lead in
the series. The Warriors took their first and only lead of the game with
45 seconds remaining in the game on a pair of Curry free throws.

Eight of Curry’s 18 points in the fourth came on free throws, a
testament to the adjustment he made to challenge the Memphis defense and
draw fouls. He also hit two key 3-pointers, lighting up the Chase Center
fans who had been sitting on their hands all game, waiting for magic.

Curry’s first points of the quarter achieved what the Warriors could
have been doing most of the game — exploiting Memphis big man Steven
Adams, who had just returned from a COVID-forced absence. Curry drew
Adams on a switch and breezed by him for an and-1 layup.

Then, Curry hit consecutive 3-pointers — one off a screen from Otto
Porter Jr. and the other from the top of the key to put the Warriors
within one. Dillon Brooks, the Warriors’ Enemy No. 1 in this series, was
the defender on both shots. Curry then made his toughest shot of the
night: He drove from the corner, placing his hand on the ground to keep
balance, then stepped back and hit a jumper over two defenders.

--
Mo Dakhil
@MoDakhil_NBA
·
May 10, 2022
Replying to @MoDakhil_NBA
Oh man, Curry gets Brooks to jump so far towards the screen with a half
jab step and then rips to his left for a wide open three.
[video]

Mo Dakhil
@MoDakhil_NBA
This is a great example of Curry's constant movement, he drifts to the
corner, Poole hits him, he nearly tumbles on the baseline recovers and
stops on a dime for the jumper.
[video]
8:17 AM · May 10, 2022
17 Reply Share
--

In seven shot attempts — and after a mid-game shoe change from his kicks
honoring the late TNT broadcaster Craig Sager to the lavender ones he
wore in Game 3 — Curry flipped the game’s script.

“It was just not letting the first three quarters influence the fact
that we still had a chance to win the game,” Curry said. “So just
understanding we’ve been here before. Whether we won or lost, the
intentions of how we could give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter
was all we focused on.”

Curry is a seasoned playoff veteran with three NBA championship rings to
his name. He knows any game is winnable. And despite becoming the first
player to reach 500 career 3-pointers in the playoffs, his most
impactful minutes haven’t necessarily come with massive 3-point flurries.

Curry has made 42.8 percent of his 3-point attempts over his career but
he’s only shooting a pedestrian 36 percent from 3 in the playoffs this
year. Still, he’s outpacing the rest of the league in crunch time. Curry
leads all players in fourth-quarter scoring this postseason, averaging
nine points in the final frame.

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Phoenix’s Chris Paul and Memphis’ Ja Morant trail him with just under
nine points per game in the fourth, but they’re both playing about nine
minutes per fourth quarter to Curry’s seven.

The averages are a result of him rising to the moment: His 38% from 3 in
the fourth quarter is a step up from 32% in the first half during these
playoffs. He’s shooting 45% from the field overall in the first half and
53% in the fourth quarter.

“That’s just Steph,” Klay Thompson said. “He has that mindset where he
is the best shooter of all time and it just takes one good look at the
rim or free throw and, when that happens, the floodgates open.”

The Warriors started 0-for-15 from 3 Monday night and Curry missed his
first four 3-point attempts to mark a sluggish first three quarters for
the superstar. But with his championship pedigree, Curry overcame a
rough start to create a sparkling finish.

“He’s got to be the easiest superstar to be around,” acting head coach
Mike Brown said after the win. “I hate to say, I don’t know if he has a
great memory, which is fantastic. You need that in his position, because
he missed shots that he can make in his sleep. And so because he doesn’t
think about it or think about the past or dwell on it too hard, he
always thinks that the next thing is going to happen in a positive
manner for him.”

--
Shayna Rubin | Oakland Athletics reporter