CLEVELAND -- With a 120-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, it appears the Golden State Warriors briefly forgot themselves as their MVP forgot his form. Stephen Curry had another substandard game, and the Warriors fell behind quickly, unable to right themselves against a galvanized foe.
Roughly a year ago, Golden State saved its season in this building. Down 2-1 in that particular NBA Finals, they were searching, somewhat desperately, for a lead to build on. Though the “Death Lineup” of Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green had been used before, that game was its coming-out party. The Warriors started Game 4 with it, responded to an early Cleveland surge and cruised comfortably to a title.
Wednesday’s Game 3 was something of a reversal from last season, as a desperate Cavs team went small and kept its season alive. Cleveland started the game with Richard Jefferson in place of the concussed Kevin Love -- a move that might just be prudent, whether Love is healthy or not. The Warriors, somewhat stubbornly, stayed big with Andrew Bogut at center.
It did not go well.
"We thought [Bogut] played well," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "Boges has done a good job for us in the series. We didn't feel like we had to match what they were doing because of their change in their starting lineup. We can always make a quick substitution. So I don't think that had anything to do with losing the game. It wasn't lineups. It wasn't substitution patterns. We just got our tail kicked."
At the beginning, Golden State couldn’t create much offense against the speedy Cavs. Suddenly, as Kyrie Irving turned molten out of the pick-and-roll, Cleveland had a 20-point lead. Finally, Golden State went small and made a run in the second quarter, cutting the lead to eight by the half. Somehow, the Warriors did it in Curry’s absence.
It wasn’t that the MVP was out, but he also wasn’t entirely in, either. His two-point, three-turnover first half was somehow worse than those statistics indicate (much as his 19-point final tally was worse than that result would indicate). Curry was dormant on defense, careless with passes and, again, he picked up bad fouls. His third foul of the half came on a no-hope reach that could easily have been called an and-1. His run of poor play led to a Curry benching with 3 minutes, 17 seconds left in the second.
"He did not start the game well," Kerr said of Curry. "Turned it over, got beat back door, and he was not his usual self. Now, it happens sometimes. I mean, that's what everybody was saying about them the last two games. No matter who you're talking about, when a team plays poorly, the team deserves criticism. The coach deserves criticism, the players. I always tell our guys, that's why we get paid. We don't get paid to show up and shoot baskets every day. We get paid because we're going to get a lot of criticism, and we deserve it tonight."
A horrid third-quarter beginning was the death knell for Golden State, as the Warriors uncompromisingly started Bogut and again got killed. With Cleveland surging, LeBron James found his rhythm and jump shot, scoring 21 of his 32 points in the second half.
What does the blowout mean? Perhaps not much, but it should at least be instructive. With half their series cushion gone, Golden State can’t treat these games like it’s midseason. That means better adjustments from Kerr, and perhaps, an adjustment he has little control over: Stephen Curry needs to be himself.