DENVER – Steph Curry knew change was needed. Team-wide, no doubt. The Warriors had lost four straight games coming into Tuesday night against the Denver Nuggets on the road, with a whole lot to clean up.
Change was in store for the Warriors’ superstar, too. Curry’s rotation of when he came out of the game, and back in, was different than usual in the Warriors’ eventual 119-115 loss to the Nuggets, something that was his idea before anyone else.
“Just wanted to change it up,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We lost four in a row. We were losing the Steph minutes when he was sitting eight straight minutes. Those stretches of the game have been tough. It was actually his suggestion the other day.
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“He came to me and said, 'If you need me to do that, I'm happy to do it.' We liked it.”
Curry already was out of the game at the 7:24 mark. He played the first four minutes and 36 seconds, then took a seat with three assists and the Warriors up 14-13. Curry sat for just over four minutes and played the final three minutes and 12 seconds of the first quarter.
His teammates would have to hold steady in the middle of quarters. Curry had the start and finish of them covered. The whole point of the strategy is to have Curry on the court for the opening and closing minutes of each quarter.
Kerr was all-in. The Warriors during their recent slump have struggled in those areas, giving Golden State’s coaching staff the green light to shake up the status quo.
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“Traditionally he hasn’t loved three stints a half, he likes two stints,” Kerr shared. “But he recognizes that right now we need to do that. I thought it was effective. It’s hard because you have to take him out around the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but he needs to get some rest.
“He played about 34 minutes tonight. I think that’s the number that’s manageable, to keep him going through the season. But we have to make better decisions, whether he’s on the court or not.”
The loss to the Nuggets was only the fourth game Curry has eclipsed the 34-minute mark this season through his first 16 games played. Curry played that many minutes seven times in his first 16 games last season. The bigger difference is how little Curry has even played 30 minutes in his 16th season.
In all but one of his first 16 games this past season, Curry hit the mark. Now, he has done so just nine times this season.
In the ninth, Curry scored a team-high 24 points, but on 8-of-23 shooting (34.8 percent) and 4 of 15 on threes (26.7 percent). Curry was a plus-5 in a four-point loss, producing an 11-assist double-double with seven rebounds, but a game-high five turnovers.
So, why did Curry consult Kerr now about his idea of change? Curry recognized the Warriors’ dry spells at the end of the first quarter and start of the second, and same with the third and fourth.
The biggest factor by far simply was being sick of losing. Whatever needs to happen for the Warriors to win, Curry’s game for it.
“When you lose, you got to experiment,” Curry says. “You got to try different things. I’ve done it in years past when the opportunity presents itself, I’ll say. Obviously I’ll figure out my rhythm, I’ve got to make more shots and be able to put the ball in the basket more consistently. I think the offense we created, the energy we played with, I adjusted really well to it.
“Who knows how long it will last, but we’re trying to get out of this hole any way we can. You’ve got to play a little desperate, do desperate things, at this point.”
The Warriors were a plus-1 in Curry’s first stint playing, and a minus-1 the first time he sat. They then were a plus-11 with him, now leading by eight the next time Curry was replaced. The Warriors again were a minus-1 without Curry, and in large part to the Nuggets closing the first half on a 15-3 run to close the first half, they were outscored by eight points with him prior to sitting with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
The Nuggets were a plus-3 in the next non-Curry minutes, and they even outscored the Warriors by two over the final three minutes of the third quarter with him on the floor. The fourth quarter is what this change in Curry’s rotation is all about.
It’s a quarter the Warriors had been outscored by 23 points through their first 19 games. The Warriors needed last season’s Clutch Player of the Year at the start of the fourth in the Mile High City, and would be ready to unleash him to close out the game. The Warriors were plus-12 with Curry in his first shift of the fourth quarter, jumping out to a 16-4 run, now leading 101-94.
Golden State even held on without him. The Nuggets only scored one more point than the Warriors as Curry grabbed a breather, and a big reason was a ridiculous Michael Porter Jr. 3-pointer just before Curry returned for good.
Over the final five-plus minutes with him, the Warriors were outscored 16-6. After Curry’s turnaround fadeaway jumper on Jamal Murray with two and a half minutes remaining and his team up 115-109, the Warriors never scored again as the Nuggets ended them on a 10-0 run to the finish line.
Curry, 36 years old with bilateral knee pain, says he doesn’t know how long this way of using him will last. Kerr hinted the plan might be here to stay – at least for a bit – believing it’s beneficial to Curry and the rest of his Warriors teammates.
“This is a type of team we feel like we probably need to do it in shorter bursts for him, but also shorter stints without him for the rest of the guys,” Kerr said.