3 Reasons the Golden State Warriors remain deadly without Stephen Curry

A second significant stint without Stephen Curry began positively for the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, dispatching the Oklahoma City Thunder in a scintillating second-half display at Chase Center.

With reports that Curry could miss multiple weeks with a left leg injury, the Warriors season hangs on the edge of destruction in a tightly-packed Western Conference. But on the back of a season-high 26 made threes against OKC, the reigning champions did what they could to relieve tension within the franchise and the fanbase.

The Golden State Warriors still hold the firepower to not only survive Stephen Curry’s absence, but actually thrive and move up the West standings.

Klay Thompson’s 42 points lifted Golden State to a 27-point win in what Steve Kerr described as “probably the most fun I’ve had watching our team play all year.” Golden State provided the blueprint of how they can remain a quality playoff-level team without Curry, even if they’re not always going to shoot a scorching 26-for-50 from three-point range.

There’s been plenty of reason for pressism in the wake of Curry’s injury, but let’s look at three reasons why the Warriors can remain deadly without their two-time MVP.

1. Klay Thompson can still single-handedly shoot his team to victory.

‘Washed’. ‘Will never be the same again’. They’ve been constant terms to describe Klay Thompson since his return just over 12 months ago. Yet, at every point, the 32-year-old continues to defy the criticism. He played the most minutes of anyone during last year’s successful playoff run, and now he’s stepping up in the absence of his splash brother.

January was Thompson’s highest scoring month of his career, and on Monday he drilled the second most threes he’s ever made in a game. Sure, the five-time All-Star can have off nights that may cost games, but there’s also few, if no one else in the league that can light it up from deep like he can. That in itself gives Golden State a chance against every opponent.

2. The Warriors have the perfect Curry insurance in Jordan Poole.

Steve Kerr went with a three-guard starting lineup for multiple games prior to Curry’s injury, with the results underwhelming to the point where Jordan Poole was put back into a bench role. Lineups involving Curry, Poole and Thompson together have been poor despite the offensive threat, but take Curry or Thompson away and all of a sudden Poole transforms into a completely different player.

Despite his inconsistencies, most of which comes from relative youth and inexperience, Poole’s the best backup to Curry that the Warriors could possibly hope for. They play in a similar fashion, meaning he can be plugged in without having to change the entire dynamic or system.

Kerr stated that Monday’s game against the Thunder might be the best he’s seen Poole play. It wasn’t an explosive scoring output, they didn’t need that given Thompson’s heroics. But he played a perfect point-guard game, controlling the offense with an efficient 21 points and masterful 12 assists.

3. It’s now or never with no Curry fallback.

When Curry first suffered a shoulder injury in early December, the franchise knew they’d get him back with approximately half the regular season still to play. His current injury is a little more uncertain, and either way it seems there’ll be little time remaining once he does return.

That heavily reduces their margin for error, knowing a poor stretch here could completely decimate their chance for back-to-back championships. After a slow start against the Thunder, Golden State displayed the kind of composed urgency that we know their capable of, characterized by hounding defense and efficient offense without the careless turnovers. Perhaps without Curry as a fallback, his teammates take the step to realise not all is lost in their title defense.