SAN FRANCISCO -- Of all the things Steve Kerr has to deal with after the Warriors’ fell 114-102 to the Miami Heat on Thursday at Chase Center – and there was a lot – Stephen Curry’s shooting woes are at the bottom of the list.
For the second game in a row, Curry failed to score in the first quarter and struggled all night with his shot. The two-time NBA scoring champ finished with 13 points – his second-lowest total of the season – while connecting on just 3 of 15 shot attempts.
That continued a pattern that has been building for the two-time NBA MVP. Curry was 7 of 21 from the floor in the Christmas Day loss to the Denver Nuggets and has made just seven of 28 3-point attempts over his last three games.
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Not that Kerr seemed overly concerned about his superstar scorer.
“It wasn’t his night,” Kerr said. “This is all part of an 82-game season where guys are going to have some tough nights and tough stretches. I’m not worried about Steph, that’s for sure. It was just a night where we couldn’t get anything going.”
True, the Warriors’ offensive problems weren’t limited to Curry. Klay Thompson’s shot wasn’t falling, while Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins also had their issues.
On a night like this, when little else was going right for the Warriors, Curry’s struggles were more magnified.
Golden State Warriors
The Heat, following the pattern set by the Nuggets three days earlier, frequently sent double-teams at Curry to shut him down. That should have left someone else open, but rarely did Golden State capitalize on the situations.
As a team the Warriors shot 42 percent overall (37 of 88) and went just 8 of 23 on 3-pointers.
“We’ve been in every game it seems like all year," Kerr said. "We’ve been competitive and tough. Tonight we lost that competitiveness. They just took it to us. We got out-coached, out-worked and out-played.
“Just never got into any flow. We missed shots that we normally make.”
Especially Curry, who was in a nice flow just before his scoring dropped off. In the three games prior to the loss against the Nuggets on Christmas Day, Curry scored 33, 30 and 27 points, respectively, so it’s not like this has been a season-long issue.
Against the Heat, though, it was pivotal.
Golden State’s nine-time NBA All-Star missed open and contested 3s, came up short on his mid-range jumper and was clamped down when trying to attack and drive the lane.
Curry did find his rhythm briefly in the second quarter but that was about the only extended offensive highlight the Warriors had.
Thompson also tossed in 13 points, matching Curry for the team high. It’s the first time since March 27, 2018 that no Warriors player had more than 13 in a game. Curry was also a part of that team but did not play.
He logged nearly 32 minutes against Miami on Thursday but wasn’t much of a factor. Curry even had a layup turn into an offensive foul, that’s how rough it got.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Curry sat on the Warriors bench in obvious frustration, a towel draped over his head with his hands crossed over the towel.
Curry was in no mood to discuss the game afterward and was not made available to the media.
Thompson, however, summed up the night pretty easily, pointing out the offensive problems were not just on Curry.
“A lot of it is on us,” Thompson said. “When they zoned us, our offense was too stagnant then trying to cut more off the ball rather than drive and kick. Including myself, we were just content standing around the perimeter instead of playing with more force, getting into the paint, getting your teammate open and taking great shots."