Kurtenbach: Save us, Steph — Curry will need to put the Warriors on his
back in Game 3
Golden State Warriors: With Draymond Green suspended, Steph Curry will
need to add to his legacy of carrying the Warriors to playoff wins.
>Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) reacts to a play against the
Sacramento Kings in the first quarter of Game 2 of the Western
Conference First Round playoffs, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento,
Calif., on Monday, April 17, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: April 20, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. | UPDATED: April 20, 2023 at
12:58 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/04/20/kurtenbach-save-us-steph-curry-will-need-to-put-the-warriors-on-his-back-in-game-3/

Save us, Steph.

For all the talk about “Strength in Numbers,” league wreckage, and the
Warriors’ collectivism, the truth is that the Warriors call on their
superstar to carry them to victory when the going gets tough.

Time and time again, he’s come through.

And the Warriors need to hop on Curry’s back again on Thursday.

The playoffs might be in their early days, but the going is already tough.

With Draymond Green suspended, the Warriors down 2-0 to the Kings in a
first-round playoff series, and the season — and perhaps even the
Warriors’ dynasty — on the line, Curry will have to summon his superhero
best in Game 3.

No pressure, though.

What stands out about this situation isn’t merely how early it is in the
playoffs but also that Curry has been good in this first-round series.
Yes, he only made 3-of-13 3-point attempts in Game 2, but he’s shooting
nearly 50 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and is
averaging 29 points per game.

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That should be good enough for a first-round series, but Curry’s
teammates have not been good enough against a Kings team that has played
unflinching basketball.

And with everything on the line Thursday, the Warriors cannot count on
Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, or a mystery man to step up and save the day.

They can put it on Curry, though.

They did it in Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals. Curry scored 27 points to
give the Warriors a 3-2 series lead.

They did in Game 7 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals. Curry scored
36 — 15 in the fourth quarter — to put the Warriors back in the Finals.

They did it in Game 6 of the 2019 Western Conference Finals (33
second-half points to finish the Rockets) and Game 3 of the subsequent
NBA Finals (47 points, but in a losing effort).

They did in Game 4 of last year’s NBA Finals, arguably the finest
performance of Curry’s career, when he scored 43 points and pulled down
10 rebounds to pull the Dubs even with the Celtics at 2-2. We know what
happened after that.

[video: Curry drops 43 pts in huge game 4 vs. Celtics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvoBQBiNOQo]

For a player who is consistently chided in the national media for “not
doing it on his own,” he sure has carried his team to some massive wins.

And while Game 3 of a first-round series seems out of place with those
historic performances, this is the Warriors’ current station.

If Curry can’t push the Warriors to a victory Thursday, there won’t be
more prestigious games to come this postseason or, perhaps, for years to
come.

The Kings have thrown the kitchen sink at Curry through two games, with
Sacramento coach Mike Brown using his six years on the Warriors’ bench
to his advantage.

Yet Curry has still found a way to score. He’s made some ridiculous
3-pointers in this series. He’s also the only Warrior willing to drive
to the hoop against a defense lacking rim protection.

And he’s done this despite not being the team’s true point guard.

But with Green barred from Chase Center Thursday, that will change. The
ball will be in Curry’s hands more often in Game 3, and what he does
with it will determine the game’s outcome and, in all likelihood, the
Warriors’ season.

Curry’s greatness turned a moribund organization into the most valuable
franchise in the world. He has been the backstop — a personal guarantee
of success.

And these are the moments that inspire Curry through his off-season
workouts — the reason he refuses to exit his peak.

Can he summon another all-time performance and give the Warriors a
chance to win this series?

It’s a tall order.

But as I learned a long time ago with Curry, anything is possible.

Questions, comments, or criticisms that demand answers?

Email Dieter. You could be featured in his next mailbag.

--
Dieter Kurtenbach | Sports Columnist
Sports columnist Dieter Kurtenbach analyzes the amazing and roasts the
absurd in the world of sports for the Bay Area News Group. He was
previously a national sports columnist for Fox Sports and a staff writer
at the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can also be heard on KNBR
(104.5-FM, 680-AM). He graduated from the University of Missouri in
Columbia, Mo., with a BA degree in journalism.