Golden State Warriors: Did Stephen Curry Choke Game 1 Away?
By Ben Grenaway
Stephen Curry and The Golden State Warriors fell flat against the OKC Thunder in Game 1. Is it fair to question Curry’s poor 4th quarter performance?
In a somewhat of a surprising turn of events, Russell Westbrook and the Thunderous Monstars stole game 1 from the universally beloved 73-9 Golden State Warriors.
It is not as if the Thunder lack the talent to go toe-to-toe with the Dubs, but people have preached ad-nauseum of the gospel of The Warriors late game acts of god, and the Thunder’s perilous 4th quarter collapses.
Well, that was the regular season. The postseason is an entirely different animal. The Thunder serve as a continual reminder with their six-game dispatching of the feared Spurs, and their cool-headed victory last night.
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The important question that no media outlet has yet to ask is this: Did Stephen Curry choke the game away from Golden State?
To be fair to the MVP, it is a team game, and he is not completely responsible for the loss, but his 1-6 4th quarter shooting outing was as ugly as it looks on paper. Combine that with the seven turnovers that he was responsible for and you cannot sidestep the fact that he was a major reason for their loss.
Had DeMar Derozen, LeBron James, Westbrook, or even Kevin Durant played like that, it would be plastered over ESPN and spewing from the mouths of Stephen A and Skip Bayless. His poor performance is no exception.
As members of the media, it is our job to leave bias beside our six packs and flat screen TVs – at home.
Stephen Curry pushed the issue in a very Kobe-esque manner, and OKC’s guards respnded in kind, staying on his hip, using their length to disrupt passing lanes, and make Steph pull another miracle from his shooting sleeve.
When Westbrook referred to Steph as nothing new, someone similar to Damian Lilliard, it ruffled some feathers but he backed it up on the court. The Thunder’s giants made the death line up a little less lethal, made the NBA’s golden boy seem a little more human, and won a game that nobody had them winning.
The Golden State Warriors bread and butter was the deadly Curry/Draymond Green pick-and-roll, causing league-wide matchup nightmares. The Thunder stymied the storm with Durant’s rare ability to check them both. They ran the pick and roll selectively, and had to turn to other, less effective strategies.
Will the Thunder be able to stop Curry in every game of this series? Hell no.
In the same way that the Thunder were resilient enough to beat the Spurs after a humiliating Game 1 loss, the Warriors are arguably more poised to do the same thing to the often erratic Thunder. The only difference is that The Thunder are more tuned in than ever, and finally aware of the fact that they have giants swift as serpents.
More sir charles in charge: Thunder vs Warriors: Three Takeaways From Game 1
Even though the Thunder can’t contain Curry like they did in the 4th quarter of Game 1, Ander Roberson, Westbrook, and company can be just enough of a stumbling block to show that even God’s bleed, enough to bend the knee to a different kind of monster all together.