MY ACCOUNT
Steve Kerr hailed Steph Curry’s “breath-taking” performance in the Golden State Warriors’ win over the Sacramento Kings, which evoked memories of Game 4 of the NBA Finals for Draymond Green.
The Warriors were in need of some respite having lost five straight road games, making unwanted history as the first defending champions to start a season 0-6 on their travels in the process.
Curry delivered in some style at the Chase Center, putting up a season-high 47 points from 17-of-24 shooting including making 7-of-12 three-point attempts.
He also had eight assists and as many rebounds, with 17 of his points coming in the fourth quarter.
“Steph was just breath-taking,” Warriors coach Kerr said.
“He’s obviously one of the greatest players of all time and he plays so well on so many nights. But this even seemed like something special for him.”
For team-mate Green, while the 116-113 victory was not of the same significance as Game 4 of last season’s Finals against the Boston Celtics, Curry’s performance was reminiscent of his heroics that night.
On that occasion, Curry had 43 points and 10 rebounds to level a series the Warriors would go on to win 4-2.
“It was very Game 4 of the NBA Finals to me. He just wasn’t going to allow us to lose,” Green said.
“Take that with a grain of salt because I’m not saying this game was as important. But you know when to get out of the way. It was one of those times where he was taking over.”
The Warriors have endured defensive struggles and problems with an unproductive bench in the early stages of a season that sees them own a 4-7 record and sit 12th in the Western Conference.
Each of Curry, Green, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins were absent against the New Orleans Pelicans las time out, but played 38, 36, 38, and 40 minutes respectively against the Kings.
Kerr accepted such volume is not viable long term but said it was a case of needs must to get a W on the board.
“It was obviously necessary,” Kerr said. “But it’s not sustainable. So we know we can’t do this for a long time.”
For Curry, there is a realisation the Warriors will go through peaks and troughs this season.
“We have to understand that [the young players] are all going to get an opportunity to perform, and there are going to be some struggles – some real high highs, and some real low lows,” he said.
“That’s the story of this team. As vets, you understand every year is a little different and you are ready for that challenge. For these young guys to try and find themselves in this league and also a specific role, it’s challenging.”
