Warriors Fall Short in First Look at Curry-Porzingis Duo
In a season that started exciting and has unraveled in injury-riddled, disappointing fashion for the Golden State Warriors, there hasn’t been much to look forward to as it’s gone on… until tonight.
After 27 long games without him, Stephen Curry made his return to the floor tonight against the Houston Rockets, hanging 29 points on their vaunted point-of-attack defenders in 26 minutes off the bench. Despite a misfire on the potential game-winning shot, Curry looked every bit as good as he had early in the season, lighting up the floor on 11-for-21 shooting and a number of electric highlights from deep range as usual.
His comeback performance is, despite the loss, a glimpse ahead to what it’ll take for the Warriors to make the playoffs this year, especially since it’ll be necessary for them to win a pair of play-in games no matter how they finish off the season. The team up and down the roster has stepped into some cohesion in the absence of their leader, and while the next-star-up Jimmy Butler won’t be making a return this season, deadline acquisition Kristaps Porzingis has been off to a solid start to his tenure in the Bay that’s helped the Dubs stay afloat while Steph recovers.
Since coming over from the Hawks in the trade that saw him exchange places with Jonathan Kuminga, Porzingis has averaged over 17 points and just under 5 rebounds per contest on a short 23 minutes each night, shooting 45%/34%/83% from the field as he finally gets some run after injuries held him from playing often this year in Atlanta. It’s been a different story so far in a Warriors jersey, one that he’s credited to team physician and NBA injury miracle-worker Rick Celebrini with helping him stay on the court more at this point in the season.
While there are plenty of hold-ups about losing a young, developing talent like Kuminga and taking back an injury-prone center whose “nightmare mismatch” days may be behind him, Porzingis adds a dimension to the Golden State offense that they haven’t had before aside from a scaled-back version from Al Horford: KP made a lot of his career by being a credible threat from beyond the arc consistently while also possessing a good post-isolation game and rangy shot-blocking capabilities. He’s the unique kind of stretch five that is comfortable attacking close-outs while still piling up triples if the opportunity is there, and it often is since he’s such a difficult contest for defenders to try given his 7’3 height. Watching Porzingis this season has made it clear to a lot of people that his fit next to Curry will be like a glove, providing unique spacing for 30 to operate off the drive where the center has to tag his man now standing on the outside or be punished with a three, as well as a notably-strong screener who can has reliable hands in the lane and can finish at the rim emphatically on the roll.
That’s, of course, the ideal. We didn’t get to see a ton of how synergistic their games are tonight due to some early foul trouble for Porzingis and the staggering of Steph’s rotation as he ramps back up from his lingering knee injury.
“I thought we have a lot more to prove out there. I know he was in foul trouble the whole night, but there were a couple possessions they tried to blitz me, you know, get somebody in the pocket. KP’s spacing the floor, the defense has to make a decision, so more of those reps will be great for not just me and him, but for all of us to continue to build chemistry” Curry recapped of their shared time on the floor in his postgame interview.
The Warriors will have plenty to clean up as the play-in tournament looms ahead of them. There are signs that, while not contenders, the team could be a potentially scrappy matchup for any number of the Western Conference’s gauntlet of opponents. It will require a strong two games and likely some impressive Curry performances for them to get there, but a lot seems to be clicking at the right time to make them a dark horse for some trouble to one of the high-seeds squads, with players like Brandin Podziemski and Gui Santos taking the next step up to be regularly-consistent contributors. It’s hard, as usual, to count a Stephen Curry-led team out from making some noise, and this season is no different.
(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)