Steph Curry Takes Over Late to Lead Warriors Win
Another playoff game, another clutch performance from Steph.
After an abysmal 3 quarters of play, Game 4 of the West semi-finals was looking like a lost cause. The Warriors started off the first half by missing 15 threes straight, which had a lot of people guessing they might pull a Rockets and break the playoff record. Despite their best efforts, however, the Grizzlies just couldn’t pull away, and their inability to capitalize ultimately doomed them.
Why? Because the Warriors have championship DNA, and are led by one of the best clutch players in the NBA. Steph Curry finished the 4th quarter tonight in the comeback win with 18 points on over 80% true shooting. It’s fitting that this performance comes 6 years after an incredible 17-point overtime against the Portland Trailblazers, a long-time conference rival.
Tonight, Curry finished with 32 points and 8 assists. While he didn’t shoot well at all in the first three frames, his closing sequence was incredible to watch. But that wasn’t the only impressive part about the game: Steph also became the first player in playoff history to hit 500 threes through his playoff career. The chances are, this will be another nearly-untouchable record that will stand for a long time. In second is LeBron James, in the twilight of his career at this point, and he’s about 80 triples behind. Klay Thompson clocks in at third and barring an insane shooting slump, he’ll jump LeBron by the end of the playoffs.
Outside of the 4th quarter, however, Steph’s shooting percentage in this game has been indicative of a larger problem of the overall series. For whatever reason, the missed threes and free throws indicate there’s something off with Curry’s shot. In 9 games during the playoffs, Steph in the final quarter has averaged 9 points on 54% shooting, but only 38% from three - pedestrian, by his standards. The good news about Curry’s deep-range slump is that he’s been very efficient from two-point range. Tonight was much the same, as he shot 6 for 11 on his non-threes. Per ESPN, he was dominant throughout the entire game, stepping up huge for the Warriors despite poor efficiency.
The least shocking thing about this was that Steph cooked Dillon Brooks… again.
With a 3-1 lead, the Warriors will return to Memphis for Game 5 on Wednesday. Presumably, Ja Morant will return, and the Grizzlies will definitely need him; while their defense was notably better, their offense just wasn’t the same despite an excellent game from backup point guard Tyus Jones. However, if there was one game Memphis needed to capitalize on, it was tonight’s: The Warriors aren’t going to shoot that poorly again, and if they keep winning the rebounding battle and hitting their free throws, the Grizz are going to need huge games from guys like Desmond Bane or Brandon Clarke to complement Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
They just need to make sure they don’t let the game stay close enough towards the end, because tonight showed once again that they don’t want to see Steph Curry in the clutch.
(Photo credit: National Basketball Association)