Steph Curry goes nuclear, but is carrying the burden for a bench in limbo

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry and Draymond Green met mid-court for a long hug as the Warriors celebrated. Confetti flew from the rafters. The Chase Center crowd exhaled in relief.

“We knew we had to win that game,” Green said. “It was a breath of fresh air.”

The scene at the final buzzer of the Warriors’ 116-113 win against the middling Sacramento Kings played out more like the aftermath of a must-win playoff game instead of Game 11 of the regular season. But the Warriors were so desperate to snap their five-game losing streak and pivot off their ugly 3-7 start that an early November win was worth celebrating to its fullest.

The bitter bite to a sweet win shows in the box score. It took a playoff-type performance from Curry to eek out the win. Frustration triggered a technical foul in the third quarter, then fueled a mad 17-point flurry in the fourth quarter that flipped a daunting double-digit deficit into the kind of win the Warriors had seemed to forget how to play.

The difference between their slim losses and galvanizing win: Curry decided the Warriors were going to win the game. He scored 47 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. A performance that didn’t stray far from his averages this year. His 32 points per game rank second only to Luka Dončić (36) and his 53 3-pointers lead the league.

“Take this with a grain of salt,” Green said. “It was very Game 4 NBA Finals to me. He wasn’t going to allow us to lose. Take that with a grain of salt.

“I’m not saying this game was that important. But you kind of know when to get out of the way. It was one of those times where he wasn’t looking to pass the ball unless he absolutely had to pass the ball. And you understand that, so you try to do all that you can to get him the match up he wants, or get him the looks he wants. Ultimately he took that game on by himself.”

Curry is one of a handful of players that can win games on his own. This was one of them.

“That fourth quarter was win at all costs mode,” Curry said. “Trying to make plays and thankful the shots went down, but we needed some results. We still have issues, we still have to play better. But we needed a win to feel good about something coming off that road trip.”

There’s nothing quite like witnessing a Curry takeover. But his heroic performance band aids the Warriors’ bigger issue. Curry is carrying a heavier burden because his teammates aren’t producing at a level to take and maintain leads.

“We felt comfortable chasing this one with heavy minutes, it was obviously necessary,” coach Steve Kerr said. “But it’s not sustainable, we know we can’t do this for long.”

The Warriors took an early lead in the first quarter on Monday and lost it once Curry and the starters took a breather for the second quarter. They were in the hole up until the final two minutes of Curry’s takeover. That’s been the story of the season so far. The starting five are among the NBA’s most impactful group, posting a plus-23 collectively to take commanding leads in the first quarter. The bench was minus-14, good to squander said leads.

They’re tinkering plenty with rotations to close the gap — James Wiseman and JaMychal Green did not play on Monday as Jonathan Kuminga entered they fray. But the right pairings can only do so much until individual players start performing.

Jordan Poole earned his contract extension as a scorer that complements Curry and Klay Thompson off the bench. But he scored just two points on Monday and is now shooting 30 percent from 3 to start the season. He’s looked hesitant creating scoring opportunities for himself and out of rhythm.

A major part of the bench failure stems from Poole’s inability to score. He looked lost as a playmaker when he shared the floor with Wiseman — unable to find his normal shooting groove and force feeding the post. That discombobulation continued even with Wiseman off the floor.

“He has to find that balance,” Curry said. “We know who he is, we know what he’s capable of. He’s shown flashes this season, but it’s continuing to stay confident that, one, he’s on the scouting report for most teams now. It’s not going to sneak up on anybody. But you have to let the game come to you. We’ve had a lot of conversations around that.

“How he sees the game and how I see the game. Instilling confident that he’s the guy out there and he’s going to help us win games. You have to maintain confidence through the rough patches and not let it attack the way you carry yourself out there.”

And while there’s natural chemistry with the starting unit, production isn’t consistent from Klay Thompson, either. He’s made some big shots, but is shooting 33 percent from 3.

Ultimately, the issues stem from the collective. The two timeline plan sounds promising in theory. The Warriors won a title last year relying primarily on veterans and experienced players in the heart of their primes, then handed the keys over to a group of young players who are still learning the ropes. This team is deep, Curry noted, but different.

The difference makes some of these losses ugly and rotations uglier. Looking for a spark, coach Steve Kerr has used two-way players Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome a lot on Monday. Why? Experience. Though they aren’t the touted prospects Kuminga and Wiseman are, there’s a stability Lamb and Jerome bring that can hold rotations together.

The Warriors’ most successful bench units run on experience. Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. last year. Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala in years past. Experienced players can hold leads.

This year is different.

“Not the way I’m playing is a burden because you expect to play that every night, but it’s the message of how thin the margin is of winning is in this league,” Curry said. “It’s no secret how we have some roller coaster rides in the middle of games.

“It’s part of our story right now and something we need to correct if we want to be a serious team and be who we say we are. Whatever it takes to make those changes as a group, we have to do that.”

Shayna covers Bay Area sports for the Bay Area News Group. She covered the Oakland A’s from 2019 to 2021 and, most recently, the Golden State Warriors’ championship run in 2022. Shayna is a San Francisco native.