Stephen Curry hasn’t made a whole lot of mistakes in his career. But he made a big one this week on national television.
He didn’t hustle back on defense.
And just like that, the Warriors were doomed.
Forget the brilliant run that had arrived from Miami with Jimmy Butler and the rest of his baggage.
Forget the return of Jonathan Kuminga, a guy 29 or so different teams inquired about at the trade deadline, and the Warriors refused to bite.
Forget about Draymond Green turning back the clock to become a Defensive Player of the Year candidate again.
And forget that the Warriors were pretty much an afterthought in 2015 and 2022 as well, before stunning the experts with championships not directly associated with Kevin Durant.
Kind of like this year … including the so-called experts but without yet having had a chance to pull their magical postseason game plan out of mothballs.
All because Curry watched the Nuggets prance downcourt for a layup in an embarrassingly bad performance by a Warriors team that was due for one.
Oh my goodness, Curry’s limping. They caught it on TV.
It’s those knees.
It’s his back.
It’s mental fatigue. (Does that cause you to limp?)
It’s …
Enough already.
Will the Warriors win the championship this season? Probably not.
Take that back … definitely not. They just aren’t as good as a handful of teams, including the one that smacked them the other night without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
But will it be because Curry is 37 years old and has been run into the ground by an overbearing coach who double-mindedly wants only rings and records?
(It’s just a coincidence that Steve Kerr passed Al Attles atop the Warriors’ rankings for most wins in franchise history last week. He did it by burning Curry for all of 35 minutes that night.)
Yes, Curry is 37. Yes, his knees, thumb and even back bother him once in a while.
And don’t tell anybody, but about once a game, he doesn’t go Wile E. Coyote and chase a guy who’s stolen the ball and is going in for a dunk. Shame on him.
But not shame on the Warriors, or Kerr, or anybody else.
Curry has missed eight games this season. All have been one-night stand-downs. The league requires the Warriors to have listed an injury each time, but let’s be honest: More times than not, it’s been to sleep in.
Is Curry tired? At mile 21 of a marathon, most runners are. Especially the 30-somethings. Ask LeBron or Durant.
But these numbers don’t scream out: “I need a month in Cancun.”
— Curry has played 1,929 minutes this season. That’s not even top 50 in the league.
In fact, it’s about 10 games’ worth fewer than James Harden, who at age 35 had enough in the tank to score 30 points Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
You seen him win any races lately?
— Curry has had enough strength not only to reach the vicinity of the hoop 125 times from 23 feet or farther in the last three weeks, but do it at a 42.4% accuracy rate.
Maybe that’s been the problem with Anthony Edwards. He was so far ahead in his bid to unseat the reigning 3-point champion, he stopped looking over his shoulder.
But with the end in sight, he’s watched old man Curry cut that deficit basically in half, taking advantage of the 23-year-old’s youthful enthusiasm. With 12 games left, we’ve got ourselves a ballgame.
— Curry had 56 and 40 points in recent road games, then just as he was supposedly running out of gas, 32 and 28 in wins over two teams that tried to suffocate him — the Pistons and Knicks.
The Warriors have won 16 of their last 19 games. Curry has averaged 27.5 points in those games — more than he averaged the last time he led Golden State to a title.
Curry won’t play Saturday at Atlanta when the Warriors open a five-game trip.
Exhausted? No. He got knocked on his butt Thursday night against the Raptors … and it hurts.
Look for him Tuesday or shortly thereafter to get back on his feet and return to throwing haymakers.
Here’s hoping one knocks out each of his naysayers.
“Curry is tired” is getting tiresome.
