Kurtenbach: Warriors need every bit of injured Curry in Game 4 — and
much more from teammates
Golden State Warriors NBA Finals: Steph Curry's sprained left foot puts
an addition onus on Steve Kerr, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green ahead
of Game 4 against the Celtics.
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 08: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) is helped up by Draymod Green (23), Jordan Poole (3), and Andrew
Wiggins (22) after injuring his foot in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of
the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, June 8,
2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 08: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) is helped up by Draymod Green (23), Jordan Poole (3), and Andrew
Wiggins (22) after injuring his foot in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of
the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, June 8,
2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: June 9, 2022 at 1:09 p.m. | UPDATED: June 10, 2022 at 4:20 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/09/kurtenbach-whatever-steph-curry-has-the-warriors-need-it-and-a-whole-lot-more-in-game-4/

BOSTON — Whatever Steph Curry has to give Friday night in Game 4, the
Warriors need it and more.

The Warriors’ star guard said Thursday that he sprained his left foot
late during an on-court scrum in Game 3. It’s the same foot that he
injured in March against the Celtics while going for a loose ball.

That last foot sprain kept Curry out of the Warriors’ final 12
regular-season games and had him coming off the bench to start the
postseason.

This injury is not as bad. Curry was able to play a bit on it after the
skirmish, and the guard said that he will play in Game 4.

He left no room for interpretation.

“I’m going to play. That’s all I know right now,” Curry said.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 08: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) grimaces as Boston Celtics’ Al Horford (42) lands on his leg during
a loose ball involving Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart (36) and Golden
State Warriors’ Jordan Poole (3) in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the
NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

As for everything else, that’s to be determined.

“When I did it in the regular season, I knew right away that something
was severely wrong,” Curry said. “Last night I knew I was hurt, but it
was not as bad. I could kind of gauge whether I should stay out there or
not and not do any more damage. That’s why I’m very confident I’m going
to play tomorrow and keep it moving.

You become your own doctor to a certain extent based on all the
different episodes that you’ve had. I don’t know if that’s a good thing
or not, but it is what it is.”

What it is for the Warriors is that their most important player — and
there is no close No. 2 — is less than 100 percent.

And even 100 percent of Curry has not been good enough to avoid a 2-1
deficit and another must-win game Friday night.

Only one team in NBA Finals history has come back from a 3-1 deficit.
The Warriors are deeply familiar with that tidbit.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 08: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) draws a charge from Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown (7) in the first
quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on
Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

This is everything. Curry wouldn’t miss this game unless he couldn’t
walk. For what it’s worth, he only had a slight limp walking up to the
dais for Thursday’s media session. Infer what you will there.

There’s one inference that will certainly keep happening: the percentage
guessing game will be played ad nauseam.

He’s forty percent healthy. No, seventy. He’s actually 90 percent. No,
you’re wrong, he’s just 85.

It’s all nonsensical and embarrassingly arbitrary.

But what Curry cannot be in Game 4 is a lesser version of himself. Not
if Game 5 is to mean something. Not if this Warriors team is to stand a
chance to win a title.

Boston’s defense is long and switches close to everything. It’s forced
the Warriors to be very unlike themselves since the start of this series.

Instead of their back-cutting, off-ball-screening, free-flowing offense,
the Warriors have become everything they once stood against: a straight
pick-and-roll team.

Curry has done well with the change.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 08: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) dribbles against Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart (36) in the first
quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on
Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

The Warriors are averaging 1.17 points per possession when he’s on the
floor, the most of any starter on either team. His usage rate — which
measures how much a team relies on a player to finish offensive
possessions — is a stunning 33 percent, by far the highest of any player
in this series and four points higher than his regular-season figure.

The Warriors have been so lost without Curry on offense (0.92 points per
possession) that they’re just trying to buy minutes with him off the
court. They haven’t been able to find many.

An adjustment that seemed inevitable for Game 4 was the Warriors playing
Curry the full second half — all 24 minutes.

The foot injury makes such a change highly improbable.

That means that the Warriors don’t only need as much as Curry can give
them, but they also need a whole lot more from his teammates.

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>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 08: Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson
(11) is fouled by Boston Celtics’ Al Horford (42) in the third quarter
of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday,
June 8, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Klay Thompson needs to have another good game — and not disappear in the
fourth quarter as he did Wednesday night. Draymond Green needs to
pretend that Game 3 never happened and channel his Game 2 vibes. The
Warriors need Jordan Poole to play like a borderline All-Star for a full
game, not just a few seconds. Andrew Wiggins has been steady, but now
they need him to be spectacular.

“I think we just need to help Steph in general,” Thompson said. “He has
been incredible this series. We’ll all do our best. I think we’ll
respond. I think we’ll come correct tomorrow, and I’m just excited for
the opportunity. We still have a chance to even out the series and take
home-court advantage.”

Let’s be clear: The Warriors’ season — and any chance at another banner
— is on the line Friday night and the team can’t guarantee that its most
important player will be able to play anything like himself.

If that’s the case once the game tips, the Warriors are cooked in this
series. But they can delay the inevitable.

And if Curry’s supporting cast steps up and Curry adds to his legend
with a great game, despite his balky foot, it’s game on in San Francisco
next Monday.

>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 08: Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins
(22), Golden State Warriors’ Nemanja Bjelica (8), Golden State Warriors’
Stephen Curry (30) and Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11) sit on
the bench during their game against the Boston Celtics late in the
fourth quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston,
Mass., on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)