Last night, Stephen Curry shined on a big stage in a loss against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Unfortunately for Warrior fans, it felt like déjà vu.
On February 27, Curry strolled into Madison Square Garden and lit up the New York Knicks with a monstrous 54-point performance. He was simply unstoppable and unconscious.
Late in the fourth quarter, Jarrett Jack went a little rogue and tried to catch the Knicks defense off balance by attacking them instead of giving Curry the pleasure of doing so. It was bold and could have worked but did not.
Also, the Knicks doubled Steph and got the ball out of his hands and consequently won the contest.
Last night, a similar thing happened.
The sharpshooter was not only spectacular, but Klay Thompson was also having a great night, which made trapping Curry all that more difficult.
The Dubs’ point guard was sensational and hit up the Lakers for an incredible 47 points. Steph made it rain from all over the court and gave the Laker guards fits. He came off screens, shot in transition and broke down his defender off the bounce for layups and gorgeous floaters in the lane.
Stephen Curry was simply amazing. But it’s tough not to feel cheated with the way the game ended.
Stephen Curry only had four field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, and one of them was a heave from the backcourt as the game clock expired.
With the Lakers sending an extra defender at the Golden State guard, it made sense for him to dish off and run an offense designed to get his teammates some open looks.
But there’s also something to be said for simply going away from the Human Torch. The Warriors essentially stopped running plays designed specifically to get him open looks.
Hurricane Curry had flooded Staples Center and destroyed all of the homes in the immediate area, but suddenly the weather stopped cooperating. Mark Jackson instead featured Klay Thompson, Carl Landry and David Lee down the stretch.
In the last five minutes of the game, Golden State took 10 shots. Two of those were courtesy of Curry and again, one of those looks was a backcourt heave, which prompted this tweet from Grantland’s Bill Simmons:
WHOA!!!!!!!!!!! Curry almost made the greatest shot since West in the 1970 Finals. Really fun game. The 2013 Lakers are Jason Voorhees.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) April 13, 2013
Normally, on a night where your best player is having the game of his life, teams usually win these games. But the Warriors have managed a donut so far in these two instances in the 2012-13 campaign. It might be a mere coincidence, but that certainly doesn’t seem like it’s the case. As ridiculous as this may sound, the Warriors now need to figure out creative ways for their best player to actually generate more shots. Playoff time is around us folks.
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