Golden State Warriors: Analyzing Why Stephen Curry Needs to Come Up Big

With Game 6 right around the corner, the Golden State Warriors are looking at possible elimination from playoff contention. What many Warriors fans may think is that it’s going to be easy to beat the San Antonio Spurs, but the coaching is really good. If everything goes as planned, the Warriors should lose in seven. No team has won back-to-back games yet. This isn’t always how it goes, however.

You can’t just assume that something is going to happen. Just because the Warriors have a huge home game, the biggest of the year, in fact, doesn’t mean that they’re going to easily win. Game 3, where the Warriors should have taken a 2-1 lead, then 3-1, was really one of the turning points of the series. San Antonio stole home court advantage, and made it tough for the Warriors to win the series.

May 14, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts against the San Antonio Spurs in the second quarter in game five of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the AT

Crippled but not beaten, the Warriors are going to comeback strong tonight. You’ll rarely see both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have horrible shooting nights. After all, they’re the best shooting backcourt in the NBA today, possibly in NBA history. It’s unlikely that the Spurs are going to be able to quickly adjust for whatever the Warriors and Mark Jackson have in mind for them tonight.

Whether Gregg Poppovich switches up his game plan or not, Curry is going to find a way to get into his offensive flow. If the Warriors want to stay alive, he’s going to have to do that. Simply put, the Warriors’ fate lies on Curry’s shoulders. When he gets into that zone, which I’m sure he will, he’ll be hitting from 30 feet away, no problem.

Of course, without the leader in David Lee, the Warriors are missing a big part of their team. His scoring and rebounding cannot be replaced. Curry, who still does all the pregame rituals, but by himself, has been determined all along. He would at least like to get his team to a Game 7. Everyone knows that the Warriors are going to look to Curry to produce tonight, but it’s up to him to step up to the challenge. It doesn’t matter if the Warriors have other players shooting the ball well like they did Game 1, Curry needs to be a threat.

If Andrew Bogut can also get it together, he’ll be more of a threat on the inside, getting Curry some open shots. If the Warriors play with heart and desire, they tend to play harder. This is what they need tonight: to outrun the Spurs and tire them out. If the Warriors can win tonight, it’s possible that they can steal a Game 7 in San Antonio. Firsts things first!