Stephen Curry didn’t need to play the finish Thursday night, and that may have been the best sign yet for the Warriors.
Golden State rolled past the Miami Heat 120-100 at Chase Center for its sixth straight win, and Curry was already done for the night with seven minutes left. He never returned, but the game was long under control by then.
That’s the part that makes this run feel different. Curry has been the headliner, as expected, and rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg has been right there with him during the winning streak. But the Warriors are building this momentum without leaning too hard on their 38-year-old star, and that matters over the long haul.
Curry has been sensational through the streak, averaging 32.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists while shooting 49% from the field and 48.3% from 3-point range. Even better for Golden State, he’s done it in just 30 minutes per game.
He also got a night off Sunday against the L.A. Clippers, with Lendeborg and the rest of the group handling business on the first night of a back-to-back.
Curry has not played more than 33 minutes in any game this season, and he has topped 30 minutes only three times. He has also sat out two of the nine games, though the first of those may have cost the Warriors a win in Phoenix against the Suns.
The ability to keep Curry fresh has come from Lendeborg and a bench that’s giving Golden State real help, even with Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Kristaps Porzingis still out. The Warriors are quietly finding depth, and that’s making the rotation work.
There was a moment Thursday when Steve Kerr had to be thinking about going back to Curry and Draymond Green. Miami trimmed the lead to 12 with five minutes left, and Kerr called timeout. It had to bring back memories of the home opener against the Memphis Grizzlies, when Golden State blew a 12-point lead with less than four minutes remaining.
Instead, Kerr stayed with Lendeborg and the bench group, and they answered with an 11-3 run to close it out. Curry never had to re-enter, which gave him a little extra rest before Saturday night’s matchup with the Orlando Magic.
Right now, the Warriors are striking the kind of balance teams dream about: winning games while keeping Curry’s workload under control. That’s a pretty good place to be.
In Other News...
Klay Thompson Just Gave Warriors Fans A First They Never Saw
Klay Thompson keeps finding new ways to add to a career that already had a long list of big moments, and this one came in a uniform Warriors fans never expected to see him wear. Playing for the Miami Heat, Thompson delivered his first career game-winning three-pointer in the final five seconds, lifting Miami to a 117-116 win over the Los Angeles Clippers and adding another late-game chapter to a rsum that was already packed with clutch shots and playoff memories from Golden State.
For Warriors fans, the odd part is how long they watched Thompson thrive in the biggest moments without ever getting this exact finish. He scored 30 points in the game and helped carry the Heat alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, but the lasting image was the shot at the buzzer-window, the kind of moment that somehow had never happened before for one of the leagues most familiar sharpshooters. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Rumor Could Reshape Steph Currys Final Title Chase
The Warriors are already being linked to one of the biggest names in the league, and the idea says plenty about how they view the next phase of Stephen Currys run. With injuries again testing the roster and the front office looking for ways to keep the team in the title mix, Golden State is reportedly keeping an eye on Nikola Jokic as a possible target next summer.
It is the kind of speculation that instantly changes the conversation around Currys final championship chase, because a player of Jokics caliber would reshape the ceiling of the roster in a major way. The uncertainty around Jokics long-term future in Denver, including delayed extension talks and the possibility of free agency, is what makes the rumor worth watching, even if the path to getting him is anything but simple. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Still Have One Big Center Question As Graham Ike Waits
The Warriors are still sorting through their center options, and the picture remains unsettled even as the season moves along. Draymond Green, Al Horford, Charles Bassey and Graham Ike all sit in the mix, giving Golden State a few different looks but no clear long-term answer in the middle. Bassey helped himself with a promising recent showing, which at least gave the staff something tangible to weigh as it keeps evaluating the rotation.
Ike, meanwhile, remains the name to watch because he has not had enough floor time to really establish whether he can be part of the solution. The Warriors would still like to reshape the position before the trade deadline, with the goal of moving Kristaps Porzingis contract and turning that into a more dependable center option. For now, though, the search continues, and the uncertainty at the spot is still one of the more important roster issues hanging over the team. [Read more 🡒]