Golden State Warriors: Superstar enduring shooting slump at worst possible time

Stephen Curry is the engine of the Golden State Warriors’ offense, the fulcrum of a system that’s brought four championships in the last eight seasons. Even at 35 years of age, he continues to astound fans with his insane level of play.

For large parts of this season, the Warriors’ disappointing performances have been attributed to Curry’s supporting cast, along with his shoulder and leg injuries that’s seen him miss two separate significant periods. Yet recently, as the defending champions push to simply secure a playoff berth, it’s been Curry’s own play that hasn’t quite been at the same high standard.

The Golden State Warriors’ offense, led by superstar Stephen Curry, uncharacteristically struggled in a brutal loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Coming up against the twin tower Minnesota lineup on Sunday, one could have expected Curry and company to take advantage of the immobility of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. Instead, the Warriors posted just 96 points, their third-lowest total of the season and fewest with their two-time MVP in the lineup.

Curry failed to find a rhythm throughout the contest, picking up two early fouls to find himself on the bench less than four minutes into the ball game. He would finish with 20 points on just 8-for-23 (34.8%) shooting from the field and 4-for-13 (30.8%) from three-point range.

Despite Curry’s struggles, and a 5-for-17 shooting display from his splash brother in Klay Thompson, the Warrior defense had put the team in pole position to chalk up another vitally important win. Golden State had possession up one with 27 seconds remaining — at the very least they should have forced Minnesota to come up with a three to force overtime from that position.

The fatal turnover, leading to a transition three and ultimate game-winning bucket from Towns, was put on the shoulders of Draymond Green. But while he was ultimately the one that did turn it over, should he have even had the ball in the first place?

It was in the safe hands of Curry, and he appeared to be dribbling out of traffic and into a spot where the Timberwolves would need to foul. Instead, he unnecessarily threw it out to Green, and the rest as they say is history. On the next Warrior possession, Curry and Jordan Poole weren’t on the same page as another turnover prevented Golden State from attempting to tie the game or retake the lead. Curry had one final attempt to send it to overtime, but his difficult, one-legged corner three was never on target.

The reigning Finals MVP is now shooting just 31.3% on 10.7 three-point attempts across his last six games. For someone of Curry’s stature, that’s a slump. It’s also coming at a less than ideal time as the regular season draws to a close.

Curry is still impacting games positively in recent times — his playmaking has shone with nine on Sunday and 13 against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. He’s far from a concern, but a shooting uptick would be nice to ensure the Warriors don’t end up in the play-in tournament.