SAN FRANCISCO — At some point during the second half Friday night, Steph Curry noticed that J.B. Bickerstaff, the Cavaliers’ coach, was actively instructing his big men to sag deeper into their drop coverage, giving Curry more cushion coming off high screens.
So Curry spoke up in the huddle.
“He came to the bench saying, ‘Hey, everybody, just space out,'” Draymond Green said, relaying Curry’s words. “‘I want to pull the ball out closer to half court. Because he is telling the big to stay further down the floor.'”
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Here is a crucial offensive possession with just under five minutes left in what would become a 106-101 Warriors win. They’re down eight at this moment and in desperate need of some quick points. The Warriors operate just as Curry instructed and Bickerstaff falls right into the trap.
Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson space to the corner. Green is on the opposite wing. Kevon Looney comes up for one of his bone-crushing screens, setting it near half court to give Curry a runway. As it happens, watch Bickerstaff on the sideline near Curry in this slow-motion view. He is telling Jarrett Allen to stay back. That’s an invitation for this kind of pull-up 3.
That was only the beginning of a late-game Curry explosion, dragging the Warriors to another early-season win. In the final 1:18, Curry hit a contested 3, dropped in a transition layup, hit another 3, and made two clinching free throws. That’s 10 points in under two minutes to slam the door. It gave him 40 points on 15-of-23 shooting and 6-of-11 from 3.
Rewind four days prior, back to the Warriors’ previous game. The script played out similarly. The wobbly Warriors went through rough patches, Steve Kerr spent the meat of the game searching for usable rotation combinations and the game remained in the balance in the final minutes. That’s when Curry, in the final 1:53, scored nine points to slam the door on the Kings, giving him 47 on 17-of-24 shooting and 7-of-12 from 3.
Curry is the oldest player since Michael Jordan in 2002 to have consecutive 40-point games. He became the first player since Kevin Durant in 2014 to average at least 42 points on 65 percent shooting over a three-game stretch. For the season, he is now averaging 33.2 points on 53 percent overall, 44 percent from 3 and 91 percent from the free-throw line.
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But Green’s biggest early-season takeaway is the complete control he has over the most nuanced aspects of the game.
“It’s the reads,” Green said. “Like, he is setting all this stuff up. You remember down the stretch where Loon set the flat screen and he walked into the 3 with Jarrett Allen. He set that up. It’s not so much what he is doing — we’ve seen that for years — but I think it is how he is doing it and how he is putting guys in the spots that he wants them. The growth there is absolutely amazing.”
And it’s been absolutely needed for this unsettled Warriors’ team, still working through several problems.
Thompson’s shooting struggles continued against the Cavaliers. He went 3-of-13 overall, had difficulty staying in front of Donovan Mitchell and was even pulled earlier than usual in the third quarter, which limited his minutes total to 29. He’s now below 35 percent shooting on the season.
“Most of them are short,” Kerr said. “The vast majority of his misses are short right now. That usually just points to the legs. He’s working hard. He obviously got a slow start to camp and it’s affecting him.”
Poole had been the other slumping scorer of late, but he broke out a bit against the Cavaliers. Poole hit four 3s and scored 18 points, boosting what was one of the better collective performances from the bench this season. The Warriors were a plus-1 in his minutes, a plus-3 in Donte DiVincenzo’s minutes (just back from a hamstring injury) and a plus-6 in Anthony Lamb’s 24 minutes.
Those were the only three bench players who appeared in the second half. Kerr tightened the rotation to eight players after four quiet minutes from Jonathan Kuminga in the first half. Greater concern remains about the stagnant state of the three recent lottery picks. James Wiseman and Moses Moody didn’t even enter the game and Kuminga is only a fringe part of a retooled rotation.
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That’s a longer-term issue that’ll continue to define the opening months. But it’s tough to criticize Kerr for riding with Lamb on Friday night. He hit two 3s, battled for four traffic rebounds, defended with versatility and clicked in every lineup combination, even finding himself on the floor late in the fourth quarter of a close game.
“He’s giving us incredible energy,” Green said. “He really understands and knows how to play the game of basketball. Knocks a shot down. He’s tough. He makes small plays. He’s always in the right spot. He’s not afraid to guard a big man.”
Draymond Green on Anthony Lamb, an increasing part of the Warriors’ tightened rotation pic.twitter.com/RkintutByX
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 12, 2022
Lamb’s current status as an essential rotation player despite his two-way contract status is representative of the Warriors’ continued mid-roster trouble. The younger guys haven’t proven ready and the Warriors’ recent five-game road trip upped their urgency to chase wins.
But that chase is a whole lot easier when you employ Curry. He has been the team’s leading scorer in all 11 games and has gone for 33, 33, 33, 40 and 47 in the team’s five wins. They’re 5-7 with a path to a winning streak ahead. They face the Kings on Sunday in Sacramento and the Spurs on Monday in Chase Center.
“I think given the circumstances with our team kind of in a rut trying to dig our way out of a hole he has just been spectacular,” Kerr said. “Never been better. I can say that.”
(Photo of Steph Curry after making a 3-point shot against the Cavaliers: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
