This NBA season has been a difficult one for the Golden State Warriors. Prior to the season beginning, many expected the Warriors to compete for the western conference title and to push the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink.
Unfortunately, their offseason, and forthcoming season, took a turn as their All-Star guard Klay Thompson tore his right Achilles just hours before the beginning of the 2020 NBA Draft. The team went on and drafted former Memphis Tigers center James Wiseman, however, the gap left behind by Thompson’s absence has been huge as the Warriors have so far lost 3 games by over 24 points in each contest.
In seasons like this, Golden State’s superstar and two-time MVP, Steph Curry would need to play at the level of his previous MVP form for the team to have a chance at being competitive. So far, it’s been a struggle for the star to do so as he’s currently shooting 32.1% from the three-point line. This number is far from the 43.4% that he’s averaged over his career and that made him such a great player.
Even his opponents have taken notice. Before their most recent loss to the Portland Trail Blazers their superstar point guard Damian Lillard spoke at length about why Curry’s season has been so down.
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Damian Lillard’s Comments on Steph Curry’s Season
GettyDamian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers will visit Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors to start the Western Conference finals.
The Trail Blazer superstar has become known for pulling off the impossible repeatedly by pulling up and scoring from 25+ feet. Only one other person in the NBA has done it as consistently as Lillard over the past few seasons, Curry.
Yet Curry hasn’t had anywhere near the success in doing so this season. With that, defenses have been able to focus on him and are forcing other Warriors players to beat them.
Lillard spoke on why he believes Curry has been having difficulty going back to his usual playing style, and what that means for him and this Warriors team.
“I think right now, with the injuries that the Warriors have been dealing with and Steph playing with a younger team right now, he’s seeing that it’s tough to get those quality looks right now,” Lillard said on Warriors Pregame Live before their game.
“It’s different than what it’s looked like over the last four or five years for him,” he continued. “He’s trying to get quality looks and get a clean look so he can make a good one. You don’t really have that luxury to take one from that deep just to be taking it like in the past he might have, and I’m the same, getting a lot of attention from defenses.”
“He’s seeing that it’s tough to get those quality looks right now… It’s different than what it’s looked like the last 4-5 years.”
– Dame Lillard on Steph Curry
Lillard Spoke More About Curry’s Play
GettyStephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors is guarded by Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Lillard may be correct about how the game looks for Curry. Not having Thomspon to distract the defense forces, Curry, to have to play superhuman like. Following the game, Lillard spoke further, via the Oregon Live, about how Portland played Curry and what they did defensively to make his job difficult.
“We know they like to move Steph around a lot off the ball. And we came in saying we just want to make them play inside the three-point line.”
“We knew if we could make his life hard and make other guys have to beat us and take shots that Steph is usually taking or they’re not used to taking, we would have a good chance,” Lillard said.
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Trail Blazers Superstar Sounds Off on Steph Curry’s Struggles This Season