Stephen Curry has not been able to make history in front of his brother Seth Curry after all - he needed to hit 10 three-pointers to surpass Ray Allen as the all-time three-point king, and today he shot 14 times outside the three-point line, but only hit 3 goals, and the Warriors suffered their fifth loss of the season, giving up the top spot to the Suns.
In an interview with the media before today's game, Curry said that he would not bear more pressure than ever because of the opportunity to break the record. But the course of the game proves that such a potential target still interferes with Curry and even the entire Warriors. And this is very worthy of their vigilance.
Although Curry pays lip service to saying there is no pressure to break records, hitting 10 three-pointers in a game is a realistic goal for him after all, so it is difficult to say that he really does not have "ideas".
Not to mention that the last home game against the Blazers, it took 16 goals to surpass Allen's Curry, who said before the game that "anything is possible, and more crazy things have happened." "You know, he actually cares about it.
Not only Curry, the battle against the Blazers, even his teammates are bent on becoming his good deeds and desperately feeding him the ball. In the end, Curry made 17 crazy shots outside the three-point line, but only shot 6 of them, and if it were not for the simultaneous injury of the two guns in the opposite backcourt, it is difficult to say how the result would be.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr also pointed out the problem vaguely in an interview after the game, saying: "I didn't talk to him specifically about it before the game, I mean, you know, shooting so many three-pointers in a game is obviously unprecedented. He scored 6, which is normal for him, but I don't think I've done it once in my entire career. So, it was just a tedious game, good thing we won, and I'm happy with that. ”
It is actually easy to accept that the Blazers failed to break the record, after all, a 16 three-point game is an almost "impossible task". But today's 10-goal difference can make history, and it happens to be his brother's team, Curry definitely doesn't want to miss the opportunity.
But the 76ers also don't want to be the backdrop for history. So today Rivers made changes to the starting lineup to make the attack lackluster, but the defensive Mattis Sebel replaced Danny Green first, with only one purpose - to strangle Curry.
From the beginning of the game, the 76ers clearly implemented this tactical intention, determined not to give Curry any easy three-point shots, preferring to let him break through, anyway, there is Embiid on the inside to help guard the basket. But once Curry throws a shot, it's not just a matter of record, the Warriors' overall offense will be full of life and become difficult to contain.
This tactical arrangement obviously worked, and Sable stuck to Curry like a brown candy throughout the game, Curry rested when he rested, Curry came back, he came back immediately. So despite being caught in a foul trap, Sebel still got 33 minutes and 44 seconds to play, setting a record for the second highest playing time of the season - on November 5, When he played the Bulls, Sebel played 38 minutes and 12 seconds, but harris and Green were absent at the time, and today, the 76ers except Simmons, but the lineup is neat.
Sable not only put in the effort when defending Curry, but also paid off. Curry scored just 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting in the game, including 3-of-14 from outside the three-point line, and a hasty long-range shot in the first and second half, which was directly blocked by Thebel's big cap.
According to statistics, Curry shot 2 of 13 against Sebel's defense today, and Sebel was the first player ever to block Curry's three-point shot at least twice in the same game.
In addition, Curry hit a total of three three-pointers throughout the game, two of which occurred in the last two minutes before the end of the half, and it was because Ofebur was forced to rest early and not be on the court because of the 3 fouls on his back.
The 76ers were not the first team to desperately strangle Curry, and earlier this season, the Raptors also adopted a four-pointer to limit Curry, when Fred VanVleet was responsible for stalking Curry, allowing him to score only 12 points on 2-of-10 shooting, but the Warriors still won the game because Wiggins and Poole's two big scoring points broke out at the same time, and they combined to blast 65 points!
And today, although Wiggins and Poole performed ok, the two men made a total of 15 of 28 shots and contributed 43 points, but this output is not enough to completely fill the firepower gap left by Curry.
The Warriors have had a good offensive and defensive record this season, with a unique goal difference rate in the league, but they are not a team that is good at playing key balls. Whenever the game reaches the decisive moment, the opponent will focus all their defensive attention on Curry alone, and Wiggins and Poole are not yet able to provide a stable output in the moment of strength, so the Warriors' game of less than 5 points in the last 5 minutes of the season is only 6 wins and 4 losses, and the performance is not commensurate with their overall record.
At the end of the day, despite the Warriors' ability to average 114.9 points per game this season, they are still heavily dependent on Curry on the offensive end. It's not that the Warriors have to have Curry score 30 or 40 points to win, but they need to make good use of Curry's huge pulling power on the offensive end, even if the other side takes care of Curry, they must find ways to take advantage of this, so that other players can get more and easier scoring opportunities to achieve the purpose of winning.
But if you are obsessed with breaking records, in the case of Curry encountering strict defense, still let him a large number of bare shots, the result, today's game, is a good example.
According to statistics, Curry has had a total of 8 games this season with less than 12 shots outside the three-point line, and the Warriors have won all of these 8 games. In the other 17 games where Curry has made more than 12 three-point shots (including today), the Warriors' record is 12-5, and the winning percentage is far below average. Among them, in the home game against the Grizzlies on October 29, Curry made 20 crazy shots, the highest record of the season. The Warriors lost.
It turns out that Curry's three-point efficiency will have a more direct impact on the Warriors' victory or defeat than production: When Curry's three-point shooting rate exceeds 35% this season, the Warriors won all 15 games, regardless of the number of shots and hits. And when his three-point shooting percentage is less than or equal to 35 percent, the Warriors' record is only 5 wins and 5 losses.
As a dynasty team that has reached the Finals for five consecutive years and won three championships, the Warriors are playing with "pride", they not only want to win, but also want to win beautifully and win painfully. This makes them more passionate, but sometimes, it can also create a burden.
Think of that year, in order to refresh the bull dynasty's best record of 72 wins in history, the regular season spared no effort and played well. However, they eventually lost the championship, overshadowing the record they had worked so hard to set.
Also in the case of Curry's strict defense, the Warriors can beat the Raptors, but lost to the 76ers, in addition to the opponent's strength deviation, there is an important difference: playing the Raptors, Curry only shot 10 times, and today, he shot 20 times.