On Jan. 24, the Golden State Warriors narrowly defeated the Utah Jazz 94-92. In the absence of Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz for the second time of the season. In the final 2 minutes and 30 seconds of the game, Jazz center Rudy Gobert suffered a calf strain and left the court with some discomfort. And the Warriors also have Kevin Looney on the inside. In a delicate balance of 89-91, the Jazz believed that attacking the big man on the other side with a small-ball lineup had the advantage over me.
The Jazz beckoned a high for cover, forcing Looney to switch to Bojan Bogdanovic.
"You've found the wrong person." When a team provokes Looney, the Warriors' bench will shout out loud. Looney has proven his ability to break up against singles when singled out. Next, Bogdanovic slowly dribbled the ball, and Looney quickly reached out and poked the ball out. The ball was picked up by Bogdanovic, but the shot was less than 5 seconds long, and then he had to rush to shoot far from the three-point line, and Looney was too well defended and did not foul. It's an absolutely critical defense in a round that must be defended.
20 seconds later, the Warriors punished the Jazz with an interior height. Jordan Poole missed a throw and Looney grabbed an offensive rebound to complete the near-winning layup on the head of former teammate Eric Pascal.
Looney has averaged 12 rebounds per game in his last five games, including 4.4 rebounds per game in the front court. After Green's absence, Looney conscientiously completed the dirty work of grabbing rebounds, defending inside, and making up positions. His performance may not be as good as Poole and Andrew Wiggins, but the role of the starting center forward is really not to be underestimated.
"Actually, I feel better than before." Looney said, "In the last few years, I don't know if I can play back-to-back for more than 20 minutes. But now I feel good, I feel confident, and my body has been responding well. ”
Looney, 47 starts in 47 games, with zero absences. This is perhaps the most underrated figure on the Golden State Warriors' re-emergence this season. He didn't appear on the injury list and even dodged the NBA's health and safety protocol. I have to say that this is the luck of the Warriors.
Stephen Curry praised Looney's performance tonight after the game, saying he was the unsung hero on the team.
But Curry's poor form continues, which worries Warriors fans. He scored just 13 of 13 three-pointers and 5-of-20 from the field. Statistics show that this is Curry's worst shooting game in more than 12 three-point shots in his career.
In the last three games, the Warriors have struggled. The Warriors first lost to the Pacers 117-121 in overtime, and in the second game, the Warriors narrowly defeated the Rockets 105-103 thanks to Curry's last-minute inspiration and the first whistle-blow of their careers.
In the home game to the Pacers, the Warriors shot 9-of-42 from three-point range, and after curry, who shot 6-of-16, the rest of the Warriors' three-pointers shot 3-of-26. They made 21 mistakes. They had a couple of defensive turnovers that left them disorganized in front of the home fans. For Curry, who is usually calm and smiling, he is a bit out of shape.
When the Warriors lacked the "dream chaser" Green, the person who can ignite emotions, no one can cheer up everyone on the team. In the second half of the fourth quarter against the Pacers, Curry yelled at Gary Payton II on one of the rounds because he didn't set the tactical run as expected.
In that game against the Rockets, the final kill masked Curry's overall shooting percentage of 28.6%.
'There's a reason I've been joking before, but sometimes after I've had one game of 11 shooting, there's a reason I've been able to make a breakthrough in the next one, and that's when my efforts end up showing up. Curry said, "I'm obsessed with shooting, but I'm not panicking now. If I had panicked, I wouldn't have shot like I do now. ”
On Monday morning, the warriors were also "dancing on the tip of the knife." Fortunately, in the end, Bogdanovic missed the last three-point shot, and Reus O'Neal also came out of the basket, otherwise Curry would have walked into the conference room after the game, waiting to be criticized by public opinion.
With 50 seconds left in the game, the Warriors led the Jazz by five points 94-89. Curry held the ball to control the time, and with about 6 seconds left on the offensive, Ingles and Bogdanovic began to pinch Curry. Poole on the other side of the field is completely empty, Curry only needs to score, either it is a big empty opportunity for no one within 3 meters, or Poole is rushing to the inside line to cause damage. But Curry's choice is: just pull a super far three point. Going back, the Jazz converted three-point shots to narrow the gap to two points.
As can be seen from the fact that he has lost 12 three-pointers, Curry has been wrestling with his own shooting in this game, trying very hard to find the feel of the three-point shot. However, the more he tried to throw in, the more he couldn't. The Warriors are Curry's team, running around Curry's superstar, Curry can't find the shooting accuracy, can't play Curry-style basketball, and the Warriors' overall game is also difficult.
Before the Warriors' game against the Jazz, Klay Thompson's left knee was a little sore, and to be on the safe side, the Warriors decided not to let Thompson play. In the 2019 Finals, Thompson tore his cruciate ligament in the sixth game, and it was the left knee that was injured.
"It's not a big deal, it's just out of caution." Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said.
Although Thompson's support was missing, the other Warriors players stepped forward in time. Poole scored 20 points, Wiggins contributed 14 points and five rebounds, Otto Porter contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Damien Lee also had 12 points. Of course, it is precisely because of the play of role players that the Warriors can still win in the face of Curry's downturn. Before the Warriors and Jazz games, a total of 6 players in NBA history had a 13-of-1 three-point shooting situation in a single game, and only today Curry became the first player in the NBA to win a single three-point shooting of 13 from 13 in a three-point line since the NBA had its own three-point line.
It is gratifying that these players can contribute, but Curry is the core competitiveness of the Warriors. When people think that Curry in December was already the lowest fan, Curry's performance in January is even more confusing. Data show that since January, Curry has shot 35 of 117 three-pointers in a single month, and the shooting rate has dropped to 29.9%, which is the worst single-month three-point performance of Curry's career so far.
If this player hadn't been the great Stephen Curry, he would have been hidden by the coach a long time ago.
Curry has injured his hand in a previous game against the Detroit Pistons, and some reporters have speculated that Curry's inaccurate shooting in the last three games is related to hand injuries. Curry also talked about his hand injury in a post-match interview, saying, "I can still feel that feeling, and I've tried a lot. That said, every time I made a shot, I felt like I could hit. ”
At the same time, Curry also said that the previous palm injury is not an excuse, he said: "Who cares what excuse you have, you either shoot or hit iron." I'll start hitting some shots. ”