The Warriors aren’t panicking in their search for the second scorer behind Curry originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
No NBA team can rely solely on one player every game, not even the Steph Curry-led Warriors.
Although Curry was the driving force behind Golden State’s four NBA championships and more than a decade of dominance, he didn’t do it alone. At his side were his long-time teammates Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and, at some point, future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant. He always had backup.
However, it hasn’t always felt like that at times this season.
Besides Curry, Warriors center Dario Šarić is the only other player to score 20 points in a game this season. In a subsequent conversation with reporters Golden State’s 116-110 loss During Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center, coach Steve Kerr emphasized the importance of a consistent secondary scoring threat behind Curry.
“There’s no question we need some goals and playmakers from somewhere else,” Kerr said. “We have to keep going. We’ll go from there and see where it takes us.”
Curry is used to being the defensive focus of the opposing team and, along with Thompson, has seen almost every look his opponents have thrown at him. However, with Thompson and forward Andrew Wiggins struggling to start the season, Curry knows the Warriors will have to adjust on offense.
“There was always an approach to protect ourselves,” Curry said after the game. “For years, you’ve known where the attention is going to be, either trying to overwhelm me in a pick-and-roll or staying physical against Klay when he can’t get off pindowns or whatever the case may be . So we.” You have to make adjustments. You can’t just keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
“But it’s not panic or anything. It’s just a matter of getting a little bit smarter and more organized about how we get good shots and trusting that we’re capable of doing that with our rotations and the combinations that we offer.” It does feel that way , like everything is hard to come by when it comes to creating a good look, but that’s not something we think is unsolvable.”
Green is the facilitator of the Warriors’ offense, and while he can’t be relied upon to be a consistent scorer, the veteran forward issued a passionate plea and challenge to himself and his teammates.
“We need to step up,” Green added. “If you play well, the players get recognition and you get paid, right? That’s the league we play in. You play well, you get recognition, you get paid, you get All-Star appearances, you get All-” defensive teams, All-NBA teams. This thing. The thing. When you play against bad players, you damn well have to take the blame. We can come here and point the finger.
“We can say, ‘Oh man, the coach could have done better, or the referees could have done better.’ You can show up and point your finger. At the end of the day you play basketball, it’s your job to figure it out and get better. And that’s up to all of us and you have to face this challenge of being better and giving the team what you need to give the team one to 20 or however many players we have these days.
The Warriors (6-5) got off to a hot start but have cooled off recently. Golden State has lost three games in a row and is looking for answers offensively.
Their next test will be a match against the very same Timberwolves team on Tuesday at Chase Center, followed by back-to-back matchups with the surging Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday and Saturday.
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