SAN ANTONIO — In desperate need of a response after a blowout road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors turned to their most reliable slump-buster 24 hours later.
Stephen Curry, the 17-year NBA legend in his own personal skid, blasted off for 22 third-quarter points as part of a 46-point performance to lead the Warriors to a 125-120 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday night.
It was the 73rd time Curry has reached 40 in his career and the 43rd time since his 30th birthday. Only Michael Jordan (44) has done it more times after turning 30.
“Routine,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr called it.
The regular season is only 13 games old, but Wednesday felt like a dig-in-the-ground moment for a Warriors team in a recent spiral.
On Tuesday night, they fell down by as many as 36 points to the Thunder and — after a sixth straight road loss — had their outspoken power forward, Draymond Green, publicly question whether players had the requisite focus on winning over personal ambitions.
The loss to the Thunder, which Kerr called “embarrassing” and Jimmy Butler called “humbling,” led to several extended meetings in the late morning and early afternoon at the team’s San Antonio hotel before Wednesday night’s game, team sources told ESPN.
“We weren’t exactly panicking,” Kerr said. “We were 6-6 and there’s 70 games left. But we needed to rediscover our identity.”
There’d been some internal discussion about resting Curry, Butler and Green on the second night of a difficult back-to-back. But all three were against that plan, considering the circumstances. Rick Celebrini, the franchise’s lead medical decision-maker, gave the green light since all three played so little in the blowout loss the night before.
Curry said the team had a lengthy and honest film session, discussing both strategy and mindset.
“When you lose, you got to assess what’s going on,” Curry said. “Don’t be afraid of changes. That means everybody being ready to adapt to whatever you have to do.”
Kerr’s coaching staff — and the veteran voices who hold sway in all discussions — decided on a different starting lineup. The Warriors moved fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga and second-year center Quinten Post to the bench, replacing them with fifth-year wing Moses Moody and rookie second-rounder Will Richard.
It was a smaller look, Kerr said, intent on delivering Butler more shots and space to operate, and Curry and Green more fluidity. Kerr said he has been impressed with Richard’s ability to catch and swing the ball decisively, noting that the coaching staff has had to tell other players that their touch time with the basketball this season has been too long.
“We’ve been around the block long enough and have enough experience to know we can address stuff and not make it personal,” Curry said. “It’s everybody taking accountability and ownership. Keeping it real, we’ll probably do it three, four more times the rest of the season.”
The Warriors scored only 14 first-quarter points, missing 14 of their 18 first quarter 3s, failing to get to the free throw line and attempting only four 2s. They fell behind by 16 points.
But Curry, who finished with only 11 points and five fouls in 20 ineffective minutes against the Thunder, jolted them to life in the third quarter, when he posted the 43rd career 20-point quarter of his career. Curry sat out three recent games because of an illness but said the Thunder game helped him shake off the rust and get his conditioning back.
Curry left late in the third quarter with an 81-80 lead. The Butler-led lineups pushed it to eight points before the fourth quarter started. Butler hadn’t made a 3 in five previous November games. He made five against the Spurs, including a dagger over a sagging Victor Wembanyama late in the fourth. Butler finished with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.
“It was very humbling to see what a championship team really looks like,” Butler said of the Thunder. “That’s where we got to get to. Together on both sides of the ball, having fun, very joyful when we’re out there. I think we got back to that tonight.”
Kerr said it “felt like our team again,” telling reporters that he reminded his players of the 2022 title team that lost seven of eight games in March before winning the championship three months later.
“In the 82-game season, you’re going to have spells,” Kerr said. “The important thing is to rediscover your identity.”
There was plenty of angst and tension around the Warriors late Tuesday night and into Wednesday, but this is a veteran team that has dealt with bigger issues before. On the Warriors’ crisis scale, Curry was asked to rank these last 24 hours on a scale of one to 10.
“Four,” Curry said. “A solid four.”