Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys To Avoiding Elimination In Game 5

1. Curry Playing Like The MVP

For so many stretches during the regular season, the Warriors came out flat (well, “flat” by the standards of a 73-win team), only for Curry to bail them out with yet another vintage performance amidst the most unstoppable offensive season of the modern era.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

The biggest difference between those stretches and now is that Curry is no longer bailing them out, which has a trickle-down effect when his teammates aren’t swelling with confidence and pride every time the league MVP demoralizes his opponent with an impossible shot.

For the series, Curry is averaging 24.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game on .419/.372/.864 shooting splits — good numbers, to be sure, but a major step down from the 30.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game on .504/.454/.908 shooting splits he posted in the regular season.

Even with that 17-point overtime explosion against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round, it’s fair to wonder if Curry is truly 100 percent following that MCL sprain — even though he isn’t making any excuses for himself.

Even the greatest of shooters is prone to an off night every now and then, but ever since returning from that two-week absence, Curry has only looked like himself in brief flashes where he’s gone completely nuclear.

Aside from that 40-point outing in his return that might have been more adrenaline than him fully being “back,” Curry hasn’t hit the 30-point threshold in the six games since his injury.

He’s looked like he’s lacking the same explosion, he’s been exploited by Westbrook defensively and he’s missed a ton of relatively open shots — including three-pointers — that he normally drills.

In Game 4, it reached an all-time low when he finished with 19 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the field and 2-of-10 shooting from deep. He missed open corner threes, he committed six turnovers and he blew wide open layups as the best finisher at the basket among all NBA guards.

Blaming Curry’s injury for this slump would be irresponsible, since the Thunder’s length and defensive intensity has made life difficult for him every step of the way.

But an MCL sprain isn’t something that just goes away after a month, and according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Curry still isn’t 100 percent. If Curry can’t overcome the lack of explosion and tap back into the desperation he showed in his first game back against Portland, the Warriors don’t stand a chance in this series.

Simply put, the Warriors are so deadly because Curry is a walking supernova who can take over a game at any moment. For almost every game during the regular season, Curry was the best player on the floor. That needs to be the case in every game remaining in a series featuring KD and Westbrook.

More hoops habit: Golden State Warriors: 5 Keys To Beating The Thunder

Curry has long been the league’s most unguardable player, but unless he can rediscover that confidence in Game 5 and beyond, the Golden State Warriors’ hopes of repeating as NBA champions will come to an end Thursday night.