The Brooklyn Nets were down two stars Saturday night when James Harden was a late scratch, and for three quarters the Warriors were also missing their two stars.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each had just seven points entering the fourth. They came alive down the stretch and scored the Warriors’ final 16 points to grind out a 110-106 win against an undermanned Nets (29-20) team.
Thompson drained a clutch 3 to put the Warriors (37-13) up four with just 12 seconds left in the game that seemingly cemented the win.
But a Kyrie Irving 3 of his own the next possession made the Warriors sweat out the final seconds to pull out the victory.
That was the story the whole night as the Warriors built up a huge lead, only to see turnovers and bad decisions salt away the lead and turn it into a much closer contest than it had any right to be.
It seems like every other game the talking point is, is this the game that breaks out Curry from this slump? And obviously the answer has always been no.
He’ll put together a vintage shooting performance and follow it up with another clunker where he struggles to hit any and all shots.
The last game against the Timberwolves it finally looked like he had turned a corner, but the pattern continued as he looked out of sorts Saturday.
The bigger problem was that while he’s been struggling to shoot, his floor game usually makes up for his missed jumpers.
But against the Nets, not only was he struggling to shoot, but he was forcing a lot of shots and also throwing some head scratching turnovers.
He finished with four turnovers but each one seemed to come at the most inopportune times.
Without their two stars hitting any kind of rhythm, it was All-Star Andrew Wiggins who kept the Warriors afloat. Wiggins had 24 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
While his selection raised some eyebrows around the league yesterday, he looked like he came out determined to prove why he deserved to be in the game.
The confidence he played with was clearly visible, lasering in step-back 3’s, calling for isos, and relentlessly attacking the glass for rebounds.
Otto Porter Jr. was also key to buying Thompson and Curry enough time to get into rhythm. Porter had 16 points of his own and tied a season high with four blocked shots.
It was the much less heralded Warriors frontcourt that carried them to this win. That’s the good news. Unfortunately that’s about the only good that can be taken from this sloppy victory.
A two-game trip to Texas is on the schedule next for the Warriors. First up is a matchup with the Houston Rockets who gave Golden State a scare just four games ago.
Curtis Uemura is SFBay’s Golden State Warriors beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @CUemura on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of Warriors basketball.
Last modified January 29, 2022 10:29 pm
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