With Draymond Green listed as probable for the Warriors vs. Jazz game on Wednesday night, there likely will be an interesting matchup with Utah forward John Collins. Winning that battle, however, is not at the top of Golden State’s wish list.
In that space sits a desire for a nuclear performance from Stephen Curry.
It doesn’t matter the opponent. It just happens to the Jazz (11-37), with coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area beginning at 5 p.m., with tipoff from Delta Center at 6.
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While the Warriors (25-24) have spent the past couple of weeks scouring the trade market – the deadline is less than 24 hours away – to add a reliable scorer next to Curry, he has not been performing at his customary lofty level. And he knows it.
“You have to understand, I (and) everybody in here needs to play better,” Curry said Monday after a 114-109 win over Orlando. “Regardless of what happens this week, and regardless of the situation we find ourselves in, I don’t want that to get lost. We have an accountability in this locker room. I don’t think anybody has played up to their standard.”
That game concluded a nine-game stretch with the theoretical advantage that comes with each game being within driving distance. What was considered a perfect opportunity for the Warriors to escape mediocrity ended with a 5-4 record – ordinary, but not enough to generate genuine momentum.
That record aligns with Curry’s production. Playing eight of the nine games, he averaged 18.9 points, shooting 38.5 percent from the field, including 30.4 percent beyond the arc – and never reached the 30-point mark.
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It’s apparent Curry, 36, is physically compromised. He tweaked his left ankle in the first of those nine games and continues to play through discomfort in both knees, as well as his right thumb. It’s reasonable to believe this is affecting his proficiency.
With Curry operating at a subpar level and Jonathan Kuminga out with a sprained ankle, Andrew Wiggins has picked up some of the scoring slack, averaging 20.6 points (with 42.2/34.4 percent shooting splits).
But Golden State’s offense is yearning for the kind of lift only Curry can provide. A game in which he breaks a defense, sends a buzz through the crowd and, eventually, submits a statistical line that practically shouts his enduring greatness.
What’s significant in this game is not which defender Utah assigns to Curry – whether it’s Isaiah Collier, Keyonte George or Jordan Clarkson – but how much damage can he do against a defense designed to stop him.