Stephen Curry will go back to old substitution patterns as Warriors search for answers amid slide, per report

 

The Golden State Warriors are in something of a free fall. They've lost four straight, six of seven and eight of their last 10 games. With a month left in the regular season, the Warriors -- once considered a top-tier title contender -- are a couple more losses from perhaps falling below a top-four seed. 

There's isn't any real secret to what's ailing the Warriors. They need Draymond Green back, on both ends, in the worst way. They need Klay Thompson, even if he can't be the player we remember in the short term, to at least be a lot better than he's been. They need Andrew Wiggins to rediscover the two-way form that made him an All-Star. 

Nobody is playing well. 

And that includes Stephen Curry. 

Curry has struggled to shoot anywhere near his standards pretty much all season. All told, he's making under 38 percent from 3 and just over 43 percent overall, both career lows. There's been some hope of late, with Curry hitting 21 of 37 shots, including eight of 14 3s over Golden State's last two games, but if recent history holds form, that brief hot streak won't last long. Curry has only made 40 percent or more of his 3-pointers in three consecutive games two times this season. 

Who knows why Curry has struggled to shoot so much this season. It's likely a combination of multiple factors, not the least of which might be the fact that he's about to turn 34. Every superstar's decline starts at some point. Maybe this is just a down year, so far, for Curry. Or maybe this is the start of a new reality. One in which he can't play Superman as a matter of routine, certainly not without his personal facilitator in Green setting him up for shots he might not be able to consistently create for himself anymore. 

Or ... and maybe this is a reach ... perhaps Curry's altered rotations this season have negatively impacted his already fragile rhythm. For years, Curry has played the full first and third quarters while resting the first six minutes, give or take, of the second and fourth quarters. This season, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has opted for more frequent Curry rests for shorter durations. 

Curry has always preferred to play longer stretches to get into full rhythm, and per Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, that's exactly what he'll be back to doing when he next takes the court against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday (Curry, for rest and recovery purposes, is not traveling with the team for its game at Denver on Monday). 

From Thompson:

In the weeds of their 124-116 loss to the underwhelming Lakers in the NBA's Saturday night showcase game was the Warriors stumbling into something of Curry's old substitution pattern. And he loved it.

To that end, he said, the experimentation with his minutes is over. He's going back to the rotation pattern he's used for years — playing all of the first and third quarters and resting to start the second and fourth. He's sacrificed long enough.

"Something good came out of this game," Curry said, smiling as he disappeared into the locker room.

game," Curry said, smiling as he disappeared into the locker room.

As you can tell from the quote, Curry has always preferred the longer stretches of playing time, but ever the good solider, he was never going to resist something Kerr thought was better for the team. Altering Curry's substitution patterns made sense on paper. The Warriors fell apart without him on the court in years past, making six-minute blocks with him on the bench harder to stomach without a healthy Thompson, or certainly a Kevin Durant, to anchor the non-Curry minutes. 

But in the end, Curry being Curry is what's most important. Short of Green coming back and playing miracle worker, Curry going into Superman mode might be the only thing that can turn the Warriors back into a top contender. Maybe getting back to a familiar playing-time pattern with be the switch he needs to get it going.