Stephen Curry ended last season as the NBA’s scoring champion, and despite only playing 5.8 minutes per fourth quarter, he ranked in the top ten in fourth-quarter scoring.
It was just an overall dominant season from Curry, and there was certainly a case to be made for him to have secured his third MVP. Nonetheless, fans have grown to expect excellence from Curry, and, last season, if it wasn’t him doing the work, the Warriors were going to lose.
The Golden State Warriors have been on the back of two-time MVP Stephen Curry in years past, but this season may be different for the superstar guard.
It’s that simple. The Dubs were 3-7 in games in which Curry had 20 or fewer points.
This season, they’re 2-0 when he’s at 20 or fewer and they’ve won every single one of the five times he’s missed 30.
On top of that, this season, he’s 71st in 4th quarter scoring. The Warriors are 6-1, and for the first time since Klay Thompson‘s injury, it doesn’t feel like this team is strictly riding on the back of Curry.
While not having him would be catastrophic, players like Gary Payton II and Jordan Poole have stepped up in a big way. Poole had stretches in their win against the Hornets in which he scored 8 straight and 9 straight points for the Warriors.
There have been a few games, especially against the Clippers, in which we’ve fully seen the capabilities of Stephen Curry. Even in the season opener in which the superstar dropped a triple-double in the Warriors victory, it was obvious he still has what it takes to be a top-five player.
Now, he doesn’t necessarily need to do it on a game-by-game basis. While that may hurt his campaign for MVP, it will certainly help elongate not only his energy throughout this season but potentially his career as well.
The jury should still be out on players like Poole and Payton II. They’ve had a few good games but, especially for the third-year Poole, they need to put their streakiness behind them and showcase more consistent efficiency.
That appears to be on its way and hopefully so do more wins without Curry having to hit the high 30s in minutes.