The Golden State Warriors hosted the Washington Wizards in Oracle Tuesday night, and Stephen Curry’s performance was nothing short of phenomenal.
From time-line treys to four-point plays, Curry’s dominant performance showed us why he is the most lethal shooter in the league today. Along with Curry, the Golden State Warriors second superstar Kevin Durant contributed a solid 30-point performance.
Although Curry and Durant combined for 81 points, the Wizards scored with the Warriors for the majority of the game and were able to cut the lead down to 8 points with 5:44 to play in the 3rd quarter.
However, Curry was able to put the Wizards away by scoring 17 points in the final 5 minutes of the 3rd. Here are my takeaways from the Warrior’s 22-point rout of the Wizards :
1. Stephen Curry has unlimited, contested range
It is well noted that Curry has deep range and can hit from almost anywhere inside of half-court. Curry pre-game warm-up includes knocking down half-court shots as if they are layups.
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However, last night Curry also showed that he does not need much space from defenders to knock down these deep 3’s. Curry’s final three-pointer of the night is a great example as he crossed over Austin Rivers and knocked down a contested three well behind the line.
2. Stephen Curry can create a lead very quickly
Curry’s firepower can blow a lead wide-open which is exactly what he did in the final minutes of the first and third quarter against the Wizards. Curry scored 18 points in a 3.5 minute span in the 1st and 17 points in a 3.5 minute span in the 3rd quarter.
This means that 35 of his 51 points were scored during 7 minutes of playing time. Curry averaged 5 points per minute in closing out these quarters. Opposing teams can never be at ease when Curry is in the game because he can turn an 8 point lead into a 20 point lead in the final minutes of a quarter.
3. Draymond Green continues to be the Warriors unsung hero
Draymond Green knows his role very well only taking 3 shots in 28 minutes of action against the Wizards. Most of Green’s hustle plays do not attract the headlines that Curry and Durant do.
It should be noted that Green led the team with 12 assists Tuesday night and created a lot of offense by quickly advancing the ball off of a defensive rebound. Green does need to cut down on his turnovers as he was responsible for 5 of them.
4. Klay Thompson’s shooting woes take baby steps forward
Klay Thompson’s 8-17 from the field including 1-5 from three is not the performance we have grown to expect from the all-star guard.
However, Thompson has opened up his 2018 campaign in a shooting slump. He was averaging 14.25 points a game including 3-22 from the three-point line going into the game against the Wizards.
While, Tuesday night’s performance shows that Thompson is still struggling, he can build off the positives of seeing some of his jump shots go down totalling up to his season high of 19 points.