“One of the most incredible and-one’s you’ll ever see.” pic.twitter.com/H9TAKCuPjm
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 18, 2021
That was fun, until it wasn’t. And then it was again. Saturday night provided two of the NBA’s best playing at their absolute best. Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum carried their teams for about two hours, and it was glorious, until two late injuries to Stephen Curry, and an even scarier one to Juan Toscano-Anderson. But Curry remained and stayed clutch, with some much-needed help. The result was a heartbreaking 119-114 loss.
Stephen Curry is just ridiculous
This isn’t a takeaway because, yeah, we’re all aware of the brilliance of Stephen Curry. He is not normal. He tends to be absurd at all times. And Saturday was nothing short of absurd.
He hit that left-handed, backwards and-one from just inside the three-point line shown above, which commentator Jeff Van Gundy called, “One of the most absurd and-one’s you’ll ever see.”
Here’s a close-up, side-by-side view.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 18, 2021
It got this reaction out of Kevin Durant.
What a ridiculous And-1 lmao
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) April 18, 2021
Curry promptly followed it with a ridiculous stepback three and 22 first-half points. He hit 30 points by the third quarter, and finished with 47 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists (15-of-27, 11-of-19 from three) despite a late ankle injury. But that injury didn’t stop Curry from hitting some stone-cold threes and crucial late free throws.
He was only matched by Jayson Tatum, who had 44 points (16-of-25, 5-of-9 from three), 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
It was the 10th-straight game Curry finished with at least 30 points, the longest such stretch of his career and the longest such stretch for the Warriors since Wilt Chamberlain did it in 1964.
Oh, and it’s tied with Kobe Bryant for the longest 30-point-plus stretch for a 33-year-old in NBA history.
Per @EliasSports, Stephen Curry's 10-game 30-point streak ties Kobe Bryant for the most consecutive 30-point games by a player 33 years or older.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) April 18, 2021
This man did this with what is likely a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter of a one possession game. He’s not like the rest of us.
Stephen
Curry pic.twitter.com/QKDYWibegS— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 18, 2021
He did all he could, hitting a ridiculous three with a five-point deficit with less than 30 seconds remaining, but it wasn’t enough. A failed layup from Draymond Green to tie the game, two missed free throws by Kent Bazemore and a dagger three from Kemba Walker damned the Warriors.
Injury scares for Curry, Toscano-Anderson
For a game as entertaining as this one was to end with injuries was just brutal and undeserving. First, Curry rolled his left ankle in a way we’ve seen far too many times. Despite being in clear pain, he remained in the game and played brilliantly in the waning minutes.
Scary moment for the Warriors as Steph Curry rolls his ankle.
Good news is that Curry stayed in the game 🙏https://t.co/OpxsMW8ZPu
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 18, 2021
Minutes later was a much scarier scene. Juan Toscano-Anderson, in typically selfless fashion, put his body and career on the line for an effort play. He went flying over the scorers table to save a ball destined to go out of bounds and landed hard, discernibly hitting his head on the way down.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 18, 2021
It was a scary scene for a few minutes, as Toscano-Anderson sat there, being attended to by the team’s medical team. He was able to get up and walk out under his own power, but did so with a towel over his head and a glazed-over look in his eyes. According to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, Toscano-Anderson suffered a laceration on his head and was being evaluated for a concussion.
There’s a talent gap, but the Warriors could still provide an upset
You can point to the Warriors being without Kelly Oubre as cause for their limited offensive output outside of Curry, Andrew Wiggins (22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists) and Kent Bazemore (16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, but 5 turnovers), but the Celtics were without Jaylen Brown and Evan Fournier, and the talent gap was still evident.
Both Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker were stellar. Marcus Smart succeeded as the third scorer and the just-signed Jabari Parker, despite his glaring defensive deficiencies, worked effectively as a post scorer.
And for the Warriors it was Kent Bazemore, and especially at the start of the fourth quarter, Jordan Poole. There was a definite talent gap, even without the aforementioned absentees. But if the Warriors can get players like Oubre and Bazemore to provide more consistently on offense, and Poole and stay that sparkplug off the bench, there is a path for this team to at least make the playoffs and win their play-in game.
It’s hard to imagine they can win a full series against the Lakers or Suns or even the Clippers as currently constructed, but injuries have been rampant this year. It the Warriors can stay healthy into the playoffs and face a team at less than full strength, this recipe of an unforgiving Stephen Curry, a confident Andrew Wiggins, reliable Draymond Green and some consistency scoring from their wings, well, there’s a non-zero chance that this team can upset someone.
This team is better without James Wiseman
Don’t take this as an attack on Wiseman. He played damn well for a 20-year-old who played almost no college ball, had no training camp, and had multiple injuries and COVID-19 protocols work together to derail a rookie season that was frustrating to a maddening degree. He showed glimpses, and before tearing his meniscus, started to get more confident and simplifying his game.
But Wiseman clearly isn’t there, nor should he have been expected to be. But with a smaller, veteran lineup, the chasmic gap in basketball IQ between Wiseman and both Kevon Looney and Juan Toscano-Anderson becomes even more obvious.
There is no coddling, no forced attempt to try and work Wiseman into the offense. It was clearly a handicap on this team that was not tenable if their playoff hopes are indeed legitimate (recent games have shown those goals to be achievable). And it’s the simple things; not fouling at comically heavy rates, not getting caught out trying to switch and contest every shot, cutting down passing lanes while remaining in an advantageous defensive position.
It’s all little stuff, but it allows for Curry to roam, for Draymond to do the same defensively, and for the offense to move much more fluidly.
Looney won’t ever stuff the stat sheet, but he’s reliable. And Toscano-Anderson’s length, effort, athleticism and intelligence have breathed new lilfe into this team, especially in those doldrum periods like the second quarter and start of the fourth. He had a team-high plus-minus of +14, and his injury was a clear emotional dagger.
