The Golden State Warriors got a taste of life after Stephen Curry, and it was repulsive.
The Warriors’ season ended Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference semi-finals. The younger, more explosive Minnesota Timberwolves thrashed them 121-110 to cap a series the Warriors were never really in, even when they briefly led it. That is because this series had a singular line of demarcation: the second quarter of Game 1.
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Golden State outscored Minnesota 30-20 in the first 14 minutes and 41 seconds of the series. But at exactly that point, Curry grabbed at what turned out to be a strained left hamstring. He did not play another minute, and while the Warriors hung on to win that night by 11, they had nothing left for the rest of the series. With Curry healthy, Golden State won the first 15 minutes of the series by 10 points. Without him, they lost the last 225 minutes by a combined 56.
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Curry still chugs along nicely, even at at 37. The Warriors have slowly reinvented themselves around him, hanging on only to Curry, the 35-year-old Draymond Green, and coach Steve Kerr from the days when they were a true title dynasty in the 2010s. When Curry was on the floor this season, the Warriors still had one of the fiercest offenses in basketball, scoring 120.4 points per 100 possessions. Without him? 108.4, making for roughly the difference between the best offense in the NBA over a full season and the worst.
There was reason to hope, however, that the Warriors would be a little less Steph-dependent during this playoff run. The team swung a midseason trade for Jimmy Butler, who has long been a good scorer and one of the great defenders in basketball. Butler had a transformative impact down the stretch, boosting the Warriors’ numbers when he was on the court more than any other player, Curry included. The Dubs seemed to have a potent mix of talented, seasoned veterans (Curry, Green, Butler) and young supporting castmates (hello, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody) to be compelling in the playoffs. A fifth championship…
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