SAN FRANCISCO — Jonathan Kuminga caught the ball just past halfcourt with a clear lane to the rim as the Sacramento Kings frantically set their defense. He’d lived in the paint all night long, proving too quick, strong and crafty for the Kings to stop when he put the ball on the deck with a head of steam. Kuminga had already set a new career-high of 31 points, too.
Can a 21-year-old bench player really look off an all-time great with the game on the line, though? Kuminga didn’t think so, and it’s certainly tough to blame him. Instead of charging hard to the rim, Kuminga took two probing dribbles and handed off to Stephen Curry.
Golden State’s final ‘picture’ is one Curry and Draymond Green have taken countless times before in the waning moments of crunch-time: A high pick-and-roll with the floor spread wide. They’ve seen the Kings’ defensive approach nearly as much, with bigger, more disruptive defenders hounding the ball than De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter. Curry didn’t try to find Green for a 4-on-3 scenario when Sacramento trapped him with four seconds left, though, opting to keep the game in his hands even under extreme duress.
Rather than grabbing Golden State a thrilling home win over its Northern California rivals, though, Curry let it slip away—literally. He lost control of the ball while trying to step back for a game-winning triple over two defenders, sealing a wild 134-133 win for the Kings.
Warriors' deference to Steph Curry dooms final possession vs. Kings
Steve Kerr hadn’t seen a replay of his team’s failed final possession when he took the postgame podium. He lauded Kuminga for another dominant performance, reflexively and indirectly defending the third-year wing not attacking the rim prior to finding Curry. The Dubs didn’t call their one remaining timeout when Klay Thompson corralled Kevin Huerter’s shocking second consecutive miss at the free throw line, but admitted there might have been a time to do it shortly thereafter.
Would the Warriors have really drawn up a drastically different play in the huddle anyway than the one Curry ended up botching? Kerr was pleased with Golden State’s decision-making as the game hung in the balance. Despite years of experience under almost the exact same circumstances, Curry just didn’t get it done when the Dubs needed him most.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time and those guys know exactly what we’re trying to accomplish,” Kerr told ClutchPoints of the Warriors' last possession. “Like I said, you get the defense scattered…Maybe the time to take the timeout would’ve been earlier when we didn’t have the spacing—maybe 12, 13 seconds left. But once we got the ball out to Steph and Draymond stepped into the pick-and-roll, I like that picture, and that’s kind of what we’ve done for a long time. Like I said, [the Kings] made a great defensive play and they deserve the win.”
Curry dropped 33 points on Thursday night, most of them in highlight-reel fashion as Mike Brown's team played to type by selling out to stop him. He's hit more difficult shots in similar situations than the one he never got off before the final buzzer expired.
But literally everyone at Chase Center, not to mention all 10 players on the floor, knew exactly where the ball was going when Thompson collected Huerter's miss and Golden State decided against calling for time. The Kings reacted accordingly, blowing up the basic play Golden State's been running for a decade in the clutch.
No timeout really was the right call for the Warriors. Maybe next time, Thursday's heartbreaking failure in mind, they'll play a game-deciding possession as it comes instead of being debilitatingly deferential to the greatest player in franchise history.
Follow Us
Subscribe