A showdown between two former teammates who have time and again defied aging was expected to take place in Houston on Wednesday night. Stephen Curry, 38, came into the game averaging offensive numbers in the ballpark of his unanimous MVP season. Kevin Durant, also 38, has remained a model of efficiency in Year 20 and continues to inch closer to fourth-placed Kobe Bryant on the all-time scoring list.
To everyone's dismay, the show was spoiled five minutes into the contest. As the Rockets immediately used their physicality to disrupt him, Curry tweaked something in his abdominal area, went to the locker room, and never returned. The Warriors fell 115-108 in Houston, snapping their eight-game winning streak.
Curry left the arena in the second half to get an MRI but made sure to let his teammates know that he was going to be okay, as Will Richard noted postgame. Without knowing the severity of the injury and the duration of a possible absence, the Warriors appear more equipped to deal with any kind of Curry-less stretch than they did last year.
With Curry on the shelf last season, the offense looked rudderless. The Warriors' offensive rating dropped from 119.3 when Curry was available to 110.7 in the 39 games he missed – Golden State went 13-26 in those games.
"Everybody has to step up," Will Richard said about what the team needs to do to withstand a possible Curry absence. "Steph has been doing an amazing job for us this whole season. So everybody has to take a step up, playing together on offense, taking that scoring load and just going out there and playing together."
The emergence of Yaxel Lendeborg, growth of Brandin Podziemski, a deeper supporting cast, and their often-mentioned connectivity have allowed Golden State to remain competitive without Curry and would have to take it up a notch if he were to miss time. Against top-tier teams like the Rockets – who came into the game with the best defensive rating in the NBA – the Warriors will have to find other ways to create advantages.
When asked what makes this squad more equipped to deal with a Curry injury, Draymond Green first went with "their spirit." And Green isn't the first one to bring it up. Steve Kerr and several other players have emphasized how connected that group of guys is, their competitive fire, and the fun they have around each other. Now 12 games into the season, this group also knows what it takes win games – with or without Steph.
Green then naturally referred to Lendeborg and Podziemski as key load carriers without Curry. Against the Rockets Wednesday, they kept the Warriors in the game.
Lendeborg and Podziemski give the Warriors more options
Down by nine when Curry exited and 15 when the first quarter ended, the Warriors looked overmatched on both ends. They committed six first-quarter turnovers, shot just 3-for-14 from beyond the arc, and couldn't stop Durant and the Rockets on the other end.
With the game on the brink of turning into a blowout, Golden State went on an extended 28-14 second-quarter run. They ramped up their defensive intensity, showed grit, knocked down threes, and had the best player on the floor during that stretch: their rookie.
Lendeborg scored 13 of his 18 first-half points in the period, en route to a 25-point, 10-rebound performance – his third double-double of the season. Among the 24 NBA halves he's played so far, that first half probably was Lendeborg's most impressive one. The Warriors headed into halftime down just six points.
Podziemski took over to start the third quarter with a couple of mid-range jumpers that kept Golden State in contact. In Curry's absence, the fourth-year guard tried to figure out the spacing, get people in the right spots, and serve as the floor general. He finished with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
"I am the one out there with the experience to get us in the sun," Draymond said of organizing the offense. "I think for a while in the game today I failed with that. ... So I gotta be better there."
Better depth still needs better execution
Even without Brandon Williams and Gary Payton II, the Warriors' depth contributed. LJ Cryer, Melton, and Will Richard—who is playing through an UCL tear in his left thumb – combined to hit eight three-pointers while Charles Bassey brought energy and held his own against Alperen Sengün.
"There's a lot of familiarity with playing without him," Podziemski said."So we're going to figure it out. We're a confident group. We can't let one player, as good as he is, kind of let our season go down.
The team has repeatedly praised a next-man-up mentality when it comes to injuries. But there's no next man who can do what Curry does. From his one-of-one gravity to unmatched shot-making ability, his mere presence on the court creates open looks for his teammates. Without him, the offensive execution, concepts, and spacing need to be crisp in order for them to manufacture those shots for each other.
When they get disorganized—like they did in the fourth quarter against the Rockets – it becomes difficult to produce consistent offense. Houston denied Lendeborg the ball – he took just one shot in the final frame. The Warriors struggled to generate quality shots from beyond the arc, and the Rockets ran away with it.
Lendeborg, Podziemski, and the supporting cast have already proven this season they can alter the course of games and hold down the fort when Curry and Green sit out, as they did against the Clippers. The bigger challenge for a Curry-less Warriors team will be to adjust when good teams change their approach. For Green, it all starts with the rookie.
"There will be often times where he could possibly be the best player on the floor regardless of the team, and we need him to show that. He doesn't have a problem doing it."
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