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It was another rough night for the Golden State Warriors on Thursday as they fell 122-113 to the Dallas Mavericks for the second time in three games. Luka Doncic broke out for a 41-point, 10-rebound and nine-assist performance, as the Warriors couldn’t slow down the All-Star guard. But perhaps the more eye-popping stat of the night came in the fourth quarter, when Stephen Curry was not only held scoreless, but he didn’t attempt a single shot while playing the entire quarter. That’s just the third time in Curry’s illustrious career that he’s been held scoreless in a quarter, and the first time ever that it’s happened in the fourth.
Credit Dallas’ defense clamping down on Curry in the fourth quarter. Every time the Warriors came to set a screen for Curry he was met with a double team, forcing the ball out of his hands and making other players on Golden State beat the Mavericks. As a result, rookie Moses Moody, whose gotten spotty minutes all season long, helped keep Golden State afloat with his 13-point, fourth-quarter performance. But that wasn’t nearly enough, and the Mavericks’ one-two punch of Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie finished off the Warriors down the stretch.
“They trapped him and he got the ball out of his hands,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the game. “That’s why Moses Moody was open and knocking down shots. So, Steph made the right plays in the fourth.”
Yes, while Curry put up a goose egg in the points column in the fourth quarter, he did have five assists in the final frame of the game. Curry’s passing game as a whole has been noteworthy lately, something our own Brad Botkin went into detail about how he’s becoming a more dynamic passer. But Golden State can’t expect to win games — especially in the playoffs — if both Curry isn’t going to put points on the board in the fourth quarter, and his teammates aren’t picking up the slack when he’s getting trapped.
In fact, this has become somewhat of a recurring theme for the Warriors as of late. Teams pressure Curry on defense down the stretch, and force Golden State to beat them with other players. This week alone its resulted in three-straight losses, the first time the Warriors have lost three consecutive games all season long. While they still hold the second-best record in the league, and a slight half-game edge over the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference, these are the types of issues that could be exposed in the postseason when opposing teams become even more aggressive on defense.
