SAN FRANCISCO — Think an NBA game in the first week of November can’t matter?
Judging from the length of Draymond Green’s postgame embrace with Steph Curry on Monday night, Game No. 11 of the regular season carried a lot of weight. For nearly 10 seconds they hugged each other, Green's head on Curry's shoulder. They’ve been through a lot in their 11 seasons together, but they didn’t wanna start this one off with another deflating loss.
So after Curry authored a 47-point masterclass to fend off the Sacramento Kings with a 116-113 victory, he had to enjoy the moment with his brother from another mother.
“Take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt,” Green said. “It was very Game 4 of the NBA Finals to me. He just wasn’t gonna allow us to lose.”
Monday night’s effort obviously won’t be remembered in basketball lore like his 43-point epic in Boston for Game 4, which spring boarded the Warriors to three straight wins and a title. But it might be remembered as a key turning point early in the season. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Curry became the first player in NBA history to record at least 47 points, eight rebounds and eight assists with no turnovers.
The season is young, but Steph has to be on the early shortlist for MVP, as he's averaging 32.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 5.3 3-pointers made per game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 43.1 percent from 3-point land.
The last thing the Warriors want to do is waste a year of Steph Curry’s prime.
Golden State leads the league in spending on its player payroll, which reaches nearly $360 million after luxury taxes. Joe Lacob probably went to bed on the eve of the season opener dreaming about another Larry O’Brien trophy in 2023. Maybe those thoughts had been put on pause by the recent 0-5 road trip, but Monday’s win did a lot to quell the early-season stomach churning.
“I’ve never been more happy about a win in Game 11 of the regular season,” Curry said.
About the only thing that can offset the Warriors' ineptitude right now is Steph’s greatness. The Warriors almost suffered another loss with a familiar formula: poor defense, bad fouls, lots of turnovers and a subpar second unit.
When Steph strolled over to the scorer’s table with 10 minutes left in the game and the Warriors down by 10, you had a feeling he would try to put the Dubs on his back. He answered by leading Golden State to its first fourth-quarter, double-digit comeback of the season, as the Warriors trailed by as many as 11 in the final period.
“Sometimes we take Steph for granted and think that every time he do this, it’s supposed to be normal,” Kevon Looney said. “But he just put on a great performance. When he puts on a show like that and carries you to a win, you gotta give him his flowers.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Monday was “something special,” even for a guy who’s had so many ridiculous moments in his career.
“Steph was just breathtaking,” Kerr said. “He’s obviously one of the greatest players of all time. …That was just Steph Curry deciding we’re gonna win."
You could tell how much the contest mattered to Steph throughout. He sank his first seven shots and busted out some dance moves as early in the first half. Though Curry went into the locker room at the break with 22 points, the Warriors were still down by a dozen. He came out on a mission in the second half and even got a technical when he got in a referee’s face pleading for a foul.
Curry said his reaction was two-fold.
“More the call,” Curry said. “But definitely understanding a sense of urgency, with us trying to win a basketball game and find some competitive fire. I see a lot of jokes about me kicking a chair a couple years ago, and us going on a run after that. Maybe that’ll be this year’s version.”
At one point in the second half, Steph just stared off into space from the bench as the Warriors struggled.
Wardell Mode was loading.
He scored 15 in his final stint on the floor, with the crowd hanging on every shot, roaring with every splash. Perhaps the loudest crescendo came with 1:24 left in the game, when he hit his seventh and final 3-pointer of the night.
Afterwards, he egged on the crowd to make more noise.
"Steph went crazy,” Andrew Wiggins said. “He was doing what he always does. That’s why he’s one of the GOATs."
As big as the win felt, the Warriors are still just 4-7 this young season and have a lot of question marks. Jordan Poole was a ghost, scoring just two points on four shot attempts in 22 minutes. Klay Thompson (6-of-18 FG) continues to struggle with his shot. The Warriors turned the ball over 15 times, with a handful of careless passes, and committed 21 fouls that led to 29 free throws. They looked lazy at times on the perimeter and didn't fight hard enough through screens, leading to open 3-point looks. Once again, all of the bench players registered negative plus/minus, while all the starters were in the positive.
“It’s an early-season issue,” Kerr said of his bench. “We’ve got 71 games left. It’s something we’re gonna address and continue to address.”
To rely on a Herculean effort from Steph, 38 minutes from him, 38 minutes from Klay, 36 minutes from Draymond and 40 minutes from Wiggs isn’t a repeatable path to victories. The veteran Warriors were well rested after Friday’s off-day against the New Orleans Pelicans, and now will get three more full days before their next game Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“We felt comfortable chasing this one with heavy minutes,” Kerr said. “It was obviously necessary, but it’s not sustainable. We know we can’t do this for long.”
