Golden State Warriors’ Ty Jerome providing stability in absence of Stephen Curry

After being a controversial choice for one of the Golden State Warriors’ two-way positions at the start of the season, Ty Jerome is now proving a god-send in the wake of a shoulder injury to superstar point-guard Stephen Curry.

The fourth-year guard had perhaps his most crucial performance of the season on Wednesday night, making some vital baskets in the second-half as the Warriors rallied to beat the Utah Jazz for their third-straight win.

Ty Jerome is providing vital stability to the Golden State Warriors as they seek to thrive without franchise leader and two-time MVP Stephen Curry.

Jerome had 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting against the Jazz, including 11 in a second-half in which he played nearly 19 of a possible 24 minutes. He proved a key architect as Golden State overturned a double-digit deficit to claim a 112-107 win.

Wednesday’s game wasn’t the first time Jerome had proved crucial since Curry was injured against the Indiana Pacers on December 15. He had 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting against the Memphis Grizzlies on Christmas Day, finishing with a game-high +23 plus-minus in the 14-point win.

The 25-year-old has been a fortunate stabilizer for the Warriors in recent times, with his early season gametime limited behind Curry and Jordan Poole. However, with Poole looking to replace Curry’s explosive scoring, Jerome has stepped into a steady role where he prioritizes solid decision-making, efficient shot-selection, solid but not spectacular defense, helpful rebounding, and an experienced head alongside Golden State’s younger players.

Although Jerome still entered the season as a young developing player, it’s important to remember his relative regular season experience compared to the Warriors’ quintet of youngsters — James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins. While those players are showing impressive signs in recent games, you can still see the comparative experience levels between them and Jerome.

The former Sun and Thunder player is hovering around the rare 50/40/90 percentages so far this season, shooting 51% from the field, 39.5% from three-point range, and 95% from the free-throw line. Jerome’s stability is perhaps best defined in his outrageous assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.27. That’s second on the team behind Kevon Looney, with every other player, including Curry and Draymond Green, below 2.75.

Jerome is nearing the halfway point of his allotted 50 games as a two-way player. Given the growing trust in him from head coach Steve Kerr, Bob Myers and the front office may need to find a way to hold onto Jerome for the postseason and potentially beyond.