https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/steph-curry-jonathan-kuminga-win-raptors/1708382/

What we learned as Steph, JK lead Warriors to eighth consecutive road win

By Michael Wagaman

• Published March 1, 2024

Stephen Curry was back in vintage 3-point form again, connecting on
seven shots from deep and finishing with 25 points, six rebounds and six
assists as the Warriors grabbed their eighth consecutive road win,
beating the Toronto Raptors 120-105 on Friday.

Jonathan Kuminga added 24 points and six rebounds as Golden State rode a
dominant third quarter and then held on for the victory in the second
half of a back-to-back.

This came after the Warriors were delayed on the tarmac in New York a
day earlier and didn’t arrive in Canada until 8 a.m.

Golden State also was short-handed. Andrew Wiggins missed his third
consecutive game due to personal reasons, while upstart rookie Brandin
Podziemski was held out because of a sore right ankle.

That opened the door for Klay Thompson to return to the starting unit.
He had 14 points (four 3-pointers) and seven rebounds. Moses Moody, who
made another start in place of Wiggins, scored 17 points and was a
plus-17. Golden State is 6-1 in games that Moody starts.

Chris Paul added 13 points, five rebounds and two steals.

The Warriors trailed much of the first half then flipped things around
coming out of halftime when they outscored the Raptors by a whopping
32-19. Toronto never recovered after that.

Here are the takeaways from Friday’s game.

Curry cooking again from deep

The NBA’s 3-point king is back to being on point with his shooting
behind the arc. Curry has made 15 3s in his last two games, including
seven against the Raptors.

That’s a very encouraging sign after Curry had been sputtering with his
deep shot. In the five games prior to playing in New York, Curry endured
one of his toughest stretches of the 2023-24 season in terms of the deep
ball. He had made fewer than 28 percent of his 3-point attempts (16 of 58).

The majority of NBA players would be completely satisfied with those
type of numbers, but Curry has been so remarkable throughout his career
that any hiccup in his shooting gets magnified.

Now the future Hall-of-Famer is looking a lot more like his old self,
bombing and connecting on his deep shots. As long as he can keep it up,
the Warriors have to like their chances as they head down the stretch.

Late arrival leads to slow start

The Warriors seemed out of sorts a little to start the game, and that
wasn’t a complete surprise. They were delayed by about six hours flying
out of New York and didn’t get to their hotel until past 8 a.m.

That lack of rest translated into another slow, sputtering start for
Golden State.

One day after opening their win over the Knicks with a 14-0 run, the
Warriors were sluggish out of the blocks in Toronto. Moody seemed OK,
canning three of his first five shots, but the rest of the roster was
out of sync.

Thompson and Kuminga were scoreless in the first quarter, shooting a
combined 0-for-7. Curry was the only Warriors player besides Moody to
make more than one shot in the opening 12 minutes.

Golden State also had a little trouble holding onto the ball, committing
five of their 14 turnovers in the first quarter.

Is Klay better off the bench?

Thompson looked a little out of sync being back in the starting lineup,
particularly early, after coming off the bench for the previous six
games. The five-time All-Star was shut out in the first half, the only
Golden State player to get shut down like he was. That led to him being
a minus-7.

Before getting put back in with the starters to fill in for Podziemski,
Thompson had settled into a very nice rhythm coming off the bench and
had given the Warriors’ second unit a significant boost.

It was a completely different story in the second half. Thompson found
his shooting touch in the third quarter when he was also very active on
the boards.

Almost assuredly this won’t be the last start for Thompson. Other
variables likely factored into his slow start, like the flight delay.
But it’s possible that Thompson might have put some added pressure on
himself being back with the starters, whereas he’s looked a lot more
relaxed and comfortable with his game coming in as a back-up.