Stephen Curry shook out of his slump and the Warriors broke their longest losing streak, two, in more than two seasons, outlasting a scrappy Knicks team 112-105 at Madison Square Garden Sunday.
Curry entered Sunday’s contest on one of the coldest three-point spells of his career, missing 27 of his last 31. His frigid shooting continued in the first quarter, going 0-for-4 from deep, but he came alive in the second half, his 15-point flurry to close the third quarter proving to be the difference in a game where the Warriors were inept with the two-time MVP on the bench.
Curry also moved into 10th place on the all-time 3-pointers list, hitting the 1,831st three of his career in the second quarter to pass Chauncey Billups.
Curry finished with 31 (+22) and Klay Thompson dropped 29, with the two hitting back-to-back buckets late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Thompson was ice cold himself in the Warriors’ loss to Chicago, but came out firing, dropping 14 in the first quarter including six made free throws, double his average attempts per game. His performance, combined with stingy defensive effort gave the Warriors a 29-18 lead after one.
Despite the score, Golden State’s performance was far from fluid in the first quarter – they had four assists – and their issues only worsened in the second. The bench unit without Curry and Thompson scored a grand total of two points in five minutes, with both Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala going scoreless in their first 15 combined minutes.
Curry finally hit his first three midway thorough the quarter, but continued to struggle, going 2-for-8 from deep in the first half, causing his 3-point shoot percentage to fall below 40 percent on the season. He was, however, +10 in the first half, something Kerr reiterated to his star during a timeout.
A wired Kerr trying to encourage Curry in the huddle, showing him his plus/minus (via @imbeccable) pic.twitter.com/Jl1qBi5B3v
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 5, 2017
The Warriors average 30.8 assists per game, but had only eight on 17 field goals in the first half.
Curry finally woke up at the end of the third quarter, knocking down three 3s in a 15-point flurry to close the quarter, giving Golden State an eight point lead heading into the fourth.
Things again got shaky for the Warriors when Curry went back to the bench, with the Knicks going on an early fourth quarter run to close the gap to 97-93. Crunch time has been the biggest issue for Golden State this season, but Thompson and Curry hit a number of big buckets down the stretch to help the dubs avoid their first three game losing streak since 2013.
Matt Barnes received his first start since returning to the Warriors over rookie Patrick McCaw, who started against the Bulls on Thursday. Steve Kerr told reporters pre-game that his decision to start Barnes was predicated on wanting him to matchup defensively with Carmelo Anthony, and that he will base his decision on who to start at small forward on matchups during Kevin Durant’s absence.
Kerr also tweaked his big-man rotation, with James Michael McAdoo taking JaVale McGee’s spot as the first big off the bench to deal with the Knicks’ three-point shooting big men.
The Warriors face a quick turnaround as they continue their grueling road trip, facing the Hawks (34-28) tomorrow at 4:30 PT in Atlanta.