The entire NBA community has been engrossed in Stephen Curry’s three-point record chase, and that might have also affected the performance of the Golden State Warriors. It is no secret that the Warriors often kick out to find Curry even when they could get an easy deuce, but the desire to get Steph on the ball has increased.
Understandably, the team has willingly rallied around their veteran guard to help him reach the milestone as quickly as possible, but it might have started to affect their overall performance. The Warriors lost their last game against the Philadelphia 76ers, with Matisse Thybulle putting together a defensive clinic on Curry and holding him to 2-of-13 shooting from the field.
Looking back at their recent performances, head coach Steve Kerr has faulted himself first for feeding into the hype surrounding Steph
Via ESPN staff writer Nick Friedell:
“There hasn’t been stress for our team,” Kerr said of Curry’s record chase. “I would say it’s been a slight distraction. And I told the media in Philadelphia the other night, I fed into it because somebody asked me if Steph could break it at home against Portland with 16 3s and I said, ‘Sure,’ because nothing Steph does surprise me. But that fed into the narrative — he came out and took 17 3s that night, our crowd was going crazy from the very beginning. And I’m shaking my head thinking, what the hell did I just do?”
“I think the most important thing is we just have to settle in and it’s going to happen obviously pretty soon. We just have to get into a rhythm. We haven’t been great offensively over the last five or six games … it’s more likely that he’ll make more 3s if our team’s in a good rhythm and we’re just playing.”
Despite his poor shooting outing, Curry successfully knocked down 3 three-pointers against the Sixers. Now, he needs to make 7 three-pointers to surpass Ray Allen’s record. Allen has expressed his desire to be there when Steph breaks the record, and he could likely get it against the Indiana Pacers tonight.
Steph’s highest tally in a single game this season stands at 9, which makes 7 a realistic target. He has knocked down 135 three-pointers so far this season and is on course to better his 2015-16 record of 402 three-pointers.
