With a 3-pointer buried midway through the fourth quarter Sunday night in Portland, Steph Curry took up residence in the most rarified of air, becoming the sole member of an exclusive club of one.
Nearly 5,000 men have played in the NBA. And none of the iconic scorers — not Larry Bird, not Kobe Bryant, not LeBron James or even Michael Jordan — have produced scoring binges at an advanced age quite like Curry.
With his dozen 3-pointers and 48 points against the Blazers, Curry moved past Jordan for the most 40-point games after turning 30. Curry has compiled 45 such games — including four this season.
Jordan had 44, while Oakland native Damian Lillard has put up 31, Bryant had 30 and still-active James Harden has 30.
And those 12 3-pointers Curry connected on? They added to his record of games with a dozen 3s that will likely not be challenged anytime soon. Curry has five such games, Splash Brother Klay Thompson has three games with 12 triples, and no other player has more than one.
Yet, somehow, it was not enough to pull the Warriors to victory as the Blazers pulled out a 136-131 win.
“Cool recognition and longevity,” Curry told reporters in the locker room, before adding, “Obviously, I’d like to celebrate it with a win, but any time you’re doing anything with certain names in this league, historically, that definitely means something.”
It has become something of a familiar problem for Golden State: Curry goes off, but the Warriors still find a way to lose.
The Warriors are now 5-9 in what the NBA defines as “clutch” games — when the score is within five points in the final five minutes. No, Curry was not blameless in the loss, with a missed layup and a turnover late to his name. But that has been the exception during a 13-14 start to the season.
A scintillating 39 points in Friday’s defeat to Minnesota. Thirty-eight points in a four-point loss to the same Blazers team back in November. A torrid 34-point outing that was not enough to bring home a victory in Orlando the previous week.
So what is the issue? Well, turnovers have plagued the Warriors all season, and against the Blazers, they had 18. Rebounding? The Warriors are 19th in that category, a minor miracle considering the injuries they’ve dealt with in the frontcourt.
And creating shots inside the arc? With the team’s lack of athleticism — Pat Spencer might actually be the team’s most threatening driver — has resulted in Golden State being dead last (23.7) in 2-point shots made per game.
The defense has had trouble containing dribble-drive threats all season, which is to be expected when the Warriors play one wing (Moses Moody) under the age of 25 and have another (Jonathan Kuminga) who is a healthy scratch for the foreseeable future.
Those shortcomings were apparent to all against a younger, more athletic Blazers team that bludgeoned Golden State at the point of attack, on the glass and from behind the arc after slow rotations. Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant took turns cooking whatever defender was unfortunate to be in the Blazers’ perimeter frying pan.
So what needs to change for a team with a roster led by one scintillating talent in Curry, a scuttling Jimmy Butler, bigs who are in and out of the lineup, is overstocked with two-guards and short everywhere else? That is coach Steve Kerr’s conundrum.
Kerr gritted his teeth as he assessed a game that he characterized as another missed opportunity. Curry might have had a couple of late-game blunders, but Kerr pinned that on the coaching staff rather than his superstar who kept the Warriors in the game.
“When you make 24 threes, and Steph makes 12 of them, you should win the game,” Kerr said, later shouldering the blame. “We’ve got to find a way to connect the game. That’s my job. I’m doing my job well this year. We’re 13-14 and have enough talent to be much better.”
Kerr has played nine different starting lineups in as many games, and the lack of continuity has shown on the defensive side of the ball: After holding teams to under 100 points for three consecutive games, the Warriors have now given up over 120 in back-to-back losses.
Curry laid the blame for the defeats on the players, rather than Kerr.
“We’re not executing well enough for 48 (minutes), and there’s a lot of things you can point at,” Curry said. “Tonight was a mixture of everything.”
Draymond Green, who played his first game in over a week Sunday, believed it was unfair to blame Kerr for the Warriors’ woes.
“If you’re not (expletive) winning, you’re not winning and you have to change something,” Green told reporters. “Until we figure it out, he’s going to be changing things, as he should, because we have to figure it out.”
Until they figure it out, the Warriors will likely lose plenty more games, even if Curry adds to his scoring record.