The Golden State Warriors had yet to limit Stephen Curry's minutes since coming back after a 16-game absence in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals, but they did something even smarter — limiting his involvement in set plays and allowing him to get his wind back by playing off the ball.

Curry did so beautifully in Game 2, admittedly running on adrenaline; slowly adjusting and tuning his conditioning to no-longer feel soreness the day after a game.

Game 5 saw the Warriors not only trot out The Hamptons Five lineup one more time, but also a more involved Curry, running sets at point guard and coming off pick-and-roll and screen-and-roll opportunities from the wing and the top of the key.

The result of that was noted by his teammate Kevin Durant after seeing he had played a heavy dose of 37 minutes, a postseason high this year.

Article Continues Below

“You saw when you let the dog off the leash, what happens,” said Durant, according to Connor LeTourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. “We’re going to need him to continue to be aggressive, and we’ll live with anything after that.”

The Warriors' dog had his most efficient outing yet, totaling 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-6 from deep, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line — helping this team pick up the pace, yet still playing under control.

Curry had a tough outing in Game 3 of the series against the New Orleans Pelicans, but it's happened to be just one in the bunch, having shot the ball efficiently throughout the series at 47.8 percent from the floor and 44.1 percent from long-range.