It’s no secret that Steph Curry has been having a bit of a rough stretch recently. Even that may be an understatement. Despite his struggles, the Warriors have stayed winning, but this is an uncharacteristic level of play from the guy who was an MVP favorite and Player of the Month in November.

In his last 15 games, he’s averaged 25 points, 5 assists, and 4 boards. He’s shot a hair under 38% from the field, and 35% from three. He’s even regressed on his free throw shooting, down to 88% and making some rare misses where he usually doesn’t. This could very well be the worst stretch of Steph’s career.

Except for the fact that it’s eerily similar to last season.

In December of 2020, Steph was averaging 26 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds. He was shooting 41% from the field and 31% from three (although also averaging 100% from the line that month). It could be said that, especially by Curry standards, he was ice cold for a minute there, and right at about the same time. He managed to pick things back up in late January, and it’s still early January this season.

While it’s perfectly acceptable to single out Steph as the reason the Warriors fell to the Dallas Mavericks tonight, and people should be critical of him during this stretch as they should any superstar, it’s not time to spell doom for him quite yet. Curry supplanted his poor performance in December/January by following it up with an excellent February, a solid March, and then his nuclear April to push the Dubs to the play-in.

Head coach Steve Kerr had some comments on Steph’s slump after the game tonight, ensuring fans that he’d be back to his normal self soon enough:

“Everyone is throwing everything at him. Best defenders, double teams, they’re trying to make it as difficult as possible… He’s gonna break out of this pretty quickly. He had a bunch of plays that I thought were good looks, good decisions, and the ball just didn’t go in or the play didn’t work out. I’m not worried about Steph” Kerr said in media, per Anthony Slater.

There’s been a lot of speculation about why Curry’s been in a slump, but it’s relatively irrelevant when it seems to just be a minor mental block. When Steph exploded last season, it was because Jordan Poole had turned a corner: The Warriors will be getting Klay Thompson back probably later this week, and that should open up some space for Steph to operate. He’s facing some of the most advanced and sophisticated defenses in the NBA on a nightly basis, so it’s no wonder that there’s some adjustments to be made.

What is cause for concern, however, is the confirmation that Steph Curry suffered a quad contusion during the game tonight. Steph was asked during media availability after the game whether he was echoing Kerr’s energy on probability of playing tomorrow. His response?

“The way it feels right now, I’m not optimistic but we’ll see” Steph said, per Slater.

It likely won’t be a long-term injury, as contusions happen from time to time, but as the Warriors tried to get going in the 2nd half, it was obvious that Curry was left out a little longer than he normally is, and having to ice on the bench did not make it look particularly promising. With that said, a few days rest before Sunday should get him good enough to go for the matchup against the Cavs.

In terms of regression to the mean, it looks like, while Curry has been struggling for the start of this season compared to last, we could see him start to heat up when he gets his Splash Brother back. There is no way this slump is sustainable for him, primarily because superstars don’t just do that. There’s usually a reason something happens, and whatever is going on for Curry, there should be optimism he will be able to pivot and start playing like his old self again.

Whether we see April-like, or even February-like numbers from last season is an entirely different story. But for now, there’s no reason to hit the panic button. The Warriors will continue to win as a very good basketball team, and while their young guys like Wiggins and Poole are still streaky players, the defense has been so astounding that it will provide enough of a base for them to build upon.

Curry is doubtful to play tomorrow by all accounts, and should be rested for as long as possible. But let’s just remember who this guy is. Stephen “The System” Curry, even if he’s having a terrible stretch, is still a big reason the Warriors offense works. He had made about 4 shots out of his 25 or so and was still getting double-teams 30 feet from the basket. His impact is unmeasurably important, and when he turns things around, it’s gonna be wraps for the rest of the league.

(Photo credit: NBAE / Getty Images)