OAKLAND–It’s almost time for the Warriors to welcome Steph Curry back, so on Friday night Golden State gave its point guard a gift.
Against a lowly Charlotte Hornets team that entered Oracle Arena with just 12 victories this season, the Warriors turned in an absolute clunker, losing 111-100 in a game that proved just how much Golden State misses the two-time MVP.
The gift might not be the one Curry wanted to unwrap, but the confounding loss presents him with an opportunity to return to the floor on Saturday night as a hero, the player who can save the Warriors from playing a “boring” brand of basketball. After Friday’s defeat, the team’s other MVP, Kevin Durant, offered high praise for Curry, calling him the team’s “leader,” and explaining exactly what the team’s been missing over the past three weeks.
“Very excited, man, he’s our leader, he’s our point guard, he runs the show out there so we’ve definitely been missing him,” Durant said. “We have so many quick scoring spurts because of his movement, his three-point shooting, his ball handling, his vision, so we’ll definitely be a different team when he comes back. We’re excited about having him healthy again and I’m excited he gets to play the game that he loves again. I can tell he’s anxious.”
While skeptics weren’t sure how Curry and Durant would play together with Golden State and how the duo would share the spotlight, Durant has made it clear that he feeds off of Curry and takes his cues from the team’s homegrown star. In Curry’s absence, Durant stepped into the leading role and helped Golden State to a 9-2 record, all while boosting his candidacy for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year.
After a stretch of 10 games with at least two blocks, Durant’s defense wizardry came to an end against Charlotte on Friday, perhaps a sign he’s fatigued from carrying the load and could use a touch of Curry’s magic as much as the rest of his teammates right now.
“I figured guys just stepped up and tried to fill the void and even though it’s a different group, a different style of play, I think our defense went to another level and that’s something that can try to stick to,” Durant said, when asked what the team learned in Curry’s absence. “Especially with Steph coming back, he’s been out for so long and we’re going to have to knuckle down even more on the defensive side of the ball until he gets his legs up under him a bit. So I’m expecting him to take about a quarter and we’ll be fine after that.”
After suffering an ankle sprain against New Orleans on December 4, Curry is poised to return to Golden State’s starting lineup on Saturday evening as the team closes out 2017 at home against the Memphis Grizzlies.