It’s getting boring, or annoying, have your pick, to watch the Golden State Warriors. It’s simply not fair! The Detroit Pistons hold him to his worst night of the season, and the NBA champions still win by 14 points.
Well, a worst night for Curry means 22 points with some delicious moves to the basket and his usual barrage of three-pointers (only three this time). Klay Thompson with 24 points, some great team defense on Andre Drummond (but Festus Ezeli more than held his own against the 20-20 monster) and big minutes from the bench, which means the Andre Iguodala show, paved way for the 109-95 win against the Pistons.
After a bad start (only 15 points in the first quarter) the Pistons started playing smarter basketball on both ends of the floor, cutting the lead down to four before the beginning of the fourth quarter. Curry didn’t find room for the shots he likes (although with him, it’s more a matter of the shots simply not dropping), Reggie Jackson made some baskets through his inefficiency (7-of-19 from the field, 20 points) and Stanley Johnson looked great off the bench with 20 of his own.
But in the Van Gundy system, it’s about how dominant his big man is. And Drummond just wasn’t himself. For him it was also an off night, with “just” 14 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 7-of-16 from the field and turning the ball over a couple of times. It’s not like he didn’t change shots or block them, but the Warriors found a way around that, focusing on the weaker perimeter defense. In the fourth, the Pistons just couldn’t keep up, once again scoring less than 20 points.
Boring? Annoying? That is what opponents are feeling, as they try to either make up excuses for why the Warriors are so much better than everyone else, still going undefeated (0-8). And when it happens against a hot team? With Curry not playing his best basketball, which is usually something that pulls the Warriors forward and doesn’t hurt them due to “selfishness” it’s becoming a little bit desperate to try and find a way to beat them.