Even the greatest shooter of all time can get himself in a slump.
Warriors superstar Steph Curry is still trying to get himself all the way out of his shooting slump, as he shot 38.5 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from behind the arc during the month of January, the least-efficient full month of his career, per ESPN’s Kevin Pelton.
His worst shooting night during that timeframe was vs. the Miami Heat on Jan. 3, when he shot 3-of-17 from the field and only made one of his 10 3-point shot attempts. He finished with nine points, the first time this season he didn’t score in double-digit figures.
But despite the underwhelming performance from the 3-point king, the Warriors still ended up defeating the Heat.
And that’s been the difference this season. Guys like Jordan Poole, Gary Payton II, among other players off the bench have been stepping up and taking over when the Warriors stars aren’t putting up numbers.
The Warriors’ depth across the roster has allowed Steph to work on his shot and focus on getting out of his slump.
So far this season, Steph is averaging 25.7 points per game on 42.2 percent shooting from the field and 38.1 percent from deep.
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He said his eye is set on shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three as he has done before, but acknowledged the difficulties of staying consistent with those stats. But one thing is for sure -- Steph said he wants to shoot at least 40 percent from the 3-point line “no matter what”.
Curry sat down with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Grant Liffmann on Dubs Talk to break down how he worked out of his slump.
As well-known and important as the Curry family is, Steph said there are boundaries when it comes to his game.
“My family knows, we have great boundaries,” Curry told Liffmann. “I appreciate the support and encouragement and all that, and there’s a lot of that over the course of my career, especially these last two and a half months. But they know not to really go into the mechanics, the X’s and O’s and whatnot.”
There are only a few people who truly understand Steph when he steps on the hardwood.
His trainer, Brandon Payne, is one of those people, along with Warriors’ player development coach Bruce Fraser.
“Obviously Brandon Payne and Bruce Fraser, the two guys that I work with all year, during the offseason, in season, on my shot, on my workouts, my reps,” Curry said. “So there are plenty of conversations around little tweaks or little things they notice that I can focus on and really get out of a shooting struggle, or even highlight how the ball is spinning, the arc and stuff like that.
“Brandon goes into a lot of details in terms of the actual shots I'm taking, percentages around the floor, things we work on in the offseason to get ready. We can always fine-tune that stuff so those two guys I listen to, obviously, in terms of if they see or notice something they know how to approach me with that information and not to try and distract and overwhelm me with it, but be timely with that wisdom.”
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But the final step is on Steph.
And the 13-year NBA veteran understands this is part of the game.
“And then obviously it’s my job to go out and make that info useful and figure it out,” Curry said. “It’s a never-ending process and journey, there’s always something you can tweak or focus on and there’s so many reps that go into practice in the season and offseason and all that. It’s a constant journey, that’s why I love what I do.”
Steph has only played in two of the three games in February so far, but his numbers are already more impressive.
Against the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 3, Curry shot 63.6 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from the 3-point line. And over in OKC, he shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from triple in the Warriors’ win over the Thunder.
Warriors fans everywhere are hoping the sharpshooter can keep up the numbers and avoid another slump.