Golden State Warriors: 10 Keys To Winning Game 7

Jun 16, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts after he was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game six of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland won 115-101. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 16, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts after he was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game six of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland won 115-101. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
11 of 11
Next
Golden State Warriors
Jun 16, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson (24) during the first quarter in game six of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Splash Brother Downpour

At the end of the day, the Warriors could do every other thing on this list and still lose Game 7 if the Splash Brothers don’t bring their A-game.

So far in this series, Curry has failed to live up to his unanimous MVP Award that was well-deserved following arguably the greatest offensive season in NBA history.

His numbers have plummeted, he’s struggled to find consistency ever since that MCL sprain and he’s only been the best player on the floor in one game in this series.

  • Regular season:  30.1 PPG, 6.7 APG, 5.4 RPG, 2.1 SPG, 3.3 TO, 2.0 PF, .504/.454/.908 shooting
  • Postseason:  25.6 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 4.2 TO, 2.1 PF, .445/.413/.915 shooting
  • Finals:  23.5 PPG, 4.0 APG, 4.8 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 4.3 TO, 3.5 PF, .419/.424/.926 shooting

Curry has been efficient from three-point range, but he’s been careless with the ball, his facilitating has dwindled due to a glaring lack of penetration and his foul trouble has prevented him from finding a steady groove.

More from Hoops Habit

After struggling in last year’s Finals (15.8 PPG), Klay Thompson hasn’t been great either. Like Curry, he had one stellar game in this series (37 points in Game 5), but it came in a loss and excluding that game, he’s averaged 17.2 points per game on .411/.333/.684 shooting splits.

Throw in the fact that Kyrie Irving has routinely torched both of them in the backcourt over the last four games and it’s no wonder this series is suddenly tied.

For the Dubs to repeat as NBA champions, they’ll need their star backcourt to have saved its best performance for last. Thompson’s expected supernova game may have already been wasted in Game 5, but even if it was, Curry has the singular ability to take over Game 7 and decide this series if he comes out guns blazing.

More hoops habit: Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 6

Very few people expected this series to go the full distance, yet here we are. It’s time for the league MVP (and his Third Team All-NBA backcourt mate) to live up to his billing and deliver in the most important game of his career.