Steph Curry can still dazzle, but Warriors keep wasting his nights of brilliance

The Warriors haven’t won four straight games all season, and in Toronto they squandered a golden chance to do just that. They lost in overtime, 141–127, after delivering a couple of blows that looked close to decisive – late in the third quarter (up 100–88 with under two minutes left) and again in the fourth (110–98, then 120–113, once more with less than two minutes to play). But once again they ticked every box on the growing list of mistakes that is fast becoming the defining trait of a team unable to shake its habits. The rebounding issues are no longer a fluke, the turnover hemorrhage isn’t either, nor is the fact that opponents are simply better in clutch situations – the last five minutes of games decided by five points or fewer. Golden State are now 6–11 in those 17 tight finishes, and their coach, Steve Kerr, summed it up succinctly: “It sucks.” Exactly.

For now, and until proven otherwise, the Warriors are a mediocre team. Swinging between good and bad stretches, they are back at .500 (16–16), eighth in the West, four wins behind sixth place – the first spot that avoids the play-in. In fact, they are now closer (three and a half games) to falling out of even the play-in picture. In March, Stephen Curry will turn 38, and the unspoken mandate was clear: make the most of the final brushstrokes of a career of historic, legendary scope. On that front, the Warriors have failed their star. Curry finished with 39 points and four assists but also four turnovers. He scored 24 after halftime, yet couldn’t close the game before overtime – whistled for a highly disputed offensive foul – and failed to score at all in the extra period. The stat says it all: he has recorded ten games of 30 points or more this season, and the Warriors are 4–6 in them. Unacceptable.

In Canada, Curry logged more than 41 minutes. Jimmy Butler (19 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Draymond Green (21 points, four rebounds, seven assists, 4-of-8 from three) did their part without playing flawless games. It didn’t matter. All of it was wasted because the Raptors grabbed 18 offensive rebounds (55–42 overall) and turned them into 29 points, and because Golden State coughed up 21 turnovers that led to another 35 points the other way. The math simply doesn’t work. From that 120–113 lead that never found its finishing touch, careless ball-handling and Scottie Barnes’ offensive rebounding took over. Barnes, that uniquely fascinating player, posted a monstrous 23 points (11-of-17 shooting), 25 rebounds (nine offensive) and 10 assists, tying the Raptors’ franchise record for rebounds, held by Bismack Biyombo.

A team with the Warriors’ experience and pedigree, with two theoretical closers like Curry and Butler, shouldn’t struggle so badly to win tight games – and certainly shouldn’t keep shooting itself in the foot. The third quarter ended with an 8–0 run in under two minutes that flipped the game’s tone (from 100–88 to 100–96) after two turnovers by Warriors who repeatedly dribbled into the corner with no plan other than walking straight into Toronto’s basic traps. Late on, Kerr went with small lineups despite his team’s massive problems securing defensive rebounds. The punishment on second chances was decisive.

Over the final six and a half minutes, overtime included, the score was 28–7 for a Raptors team that had lost five straight home games and were without their starting center, Jakob Poeltl. Overtime opened with a 10–0 run amid missed shots by a visibly frustrated Curry, fully aware of the reality facing, for now, a very old team whose flaws weigh as heavily as its virtues, incapable of making progress in vital areas that drastically limit its ceiling. Now everything hinges on the month or so remaining before the trade deadline.

In theory, Jonathan Kuminga will be on his way out (this time, really – for real), one of the NBA’s most frustrating and bizarre sagas of recent years. There is also talk of possible interest in Anthony Davis, approaching 33, constantly injured and with plenty of suitors. The big man would be a complicated deal to pull off, adding yet another last-chance veteran to a roster drifting far from its original ambitions. It feels unlikely, and the risks are glaringly obvious… but after watching Scottie Barnes decide a game purely through offensive rebounding, at least the interest is understandable. I suppose.

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Toronto Raptors

Stats

30 Ochai Agbaji
3 Brandon Ingram
4 Scottie Barnes
9 RJ Barrett
5 Immanuel Quickley
77 Jamison Battle
1 Gradey Dick
54 Sandro Mamukelashvili
2 Jonathan Mogbo
23 Jamal Shead
17 Garrett Temple
14 Ja'Kobe Walter

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
30 Ochai Agbaji	19	10	4	3	1	1	0	0	0	2/2	4/5	0/1	0	5	0
3 Brandon Ingram	39	26	4	2	2	6	2	1	0	2/2	12/18	0/8	0	1	0
4 Scottie Barnes	42	23	25	9	16	10	3	3	1	1/1	11/16	0/1	0	4	0
9 RJ Barrett	23	12	7	0	7	4	0	0	0	0/2	3/8	2/5	0	4	0
5 Immanuel Quickley	38	27	4	0	4	7	5	1	0	8/8	2/5	5/10	0	1	0
77 Jamison Battle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
1 Gradey Dick	14	4	2	1	1	1	0	1	0	0/0	2/2	0/2	0	2	0
54 Sandro Mamukelashvili	21	13	6	2	4	0	0	2	1	0/0	5/7	1/4	0	2	0
2 Jonathan Mogbo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
23 Jamal Shead	28	8	0	0	0	8	4	1	0	1/1	2/4	1/4	0	4	0
17 Garrett Temple	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
14 Ja'Kobe Walter	33	18	2	1	1	3	0	1	0	2/2	2/3	4/7	0	3	0

Golden State Warriors

Stats

10 Jimmy Butler III
23 Draymond Green
21 Quinten Post
30 Stephen Curry
4 Moses Moody
7 Buddy Hield
20 Al Horford
32 Trayce Jackson-Davis
1 Jonathan Kuminga
0 Gary Payton II
2 Brandin Podziemski
3 Will Richard
15 Gui Santos
61 Pat Spencer

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
10 Jimmy Butler III	37	19	6	3	3	5	3	0	0	7/7	6/12	0/4	0	2	0
23 Draymond Green	33	21	4	0	4	7	3	1	0	1/3	4/6	4/8	0	2	0
21 Quinten Post	18	8	2	0	2	2	2	0	1	2/2	0/1	2/2	0	4	0
30 Stephen Curry	41	39	3	2	1	4	4	1	1	11/11	8/19	4/11	0	2	0
4 Moses Moody	29	3	6	2	4	1	2	2	1	0/0	0/2	1/4	0	2	0
7 Buddy Hield	14	3	3	0	3	1	1	0	0	0/0	0/0	1/2	0	1	0
20 Al Horford	16	7	7	3	4	0	0	0	2	0/0	2/3	1/3	0	0	0
32 Trayce Jackson-Davis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
1 Jonathan Kuminga	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Gary Payton II	11	4	1	1	0	2	2	0	3	0/0	2/2	0/1	0	1	0
2 Brandin Podziemski	27	13	3	1	2	2	1	0	0	1/1	3/5	2/4	0	2	0
3 Will Richard	35	10	7	2	5	1	2	5	1	3/4	2/2	1/5	0	4	0
15 Gui Santos	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
61 Pat Spencer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0