Curry-Less Warriors Blown out by Barea, Mavs 114-91
Curry (lower leg) has been ruled out of Wednesday’s game against the Mavericks, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reports.
An MRI exam of Curry’s sore leg revealed no structural damage. Take that guy out of the mix and the geometry of the game completely changes for Golden State. Walton said being without Curry for a brief time won’t change the way the Warriors approach games.
Golden State hadn’t been in that position all season, facing its largest halftime deficit. But it does keep them in stride with the Los Angeles Clippers, their primary competition at this point for staying among the top four teams in the Western Conference.
Not only did the Golden State offense stall without Curry running the show – with 40.7 percent shooting from the floor – defensively it played uncharacteristically passive, giving Dallas easy looks at the rim.
“As long as it’s not anything serious, then we’re fine with the fact that he might need a couple days or however long this thing takes to heal”, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton said.
The Warriors also were to be without reserve guard Leandro Barbosa on Wednesday due to a left shoulder sprain.
Two of just five West teams with a positive point differential, the Mavs continue to hang in the 4-6 range at 19-13, while Golden State “drops” to 29-2. They thrashed the Warriors by a huge margin, 114-91, finishing the year by beating the best team in the league.
“That’s 30 points and a lot of playmaking, so we’ve just got to collectively try and chip in”, said Thompson, the former Cougar who had 10 points while matching Draymond Green with 4-of-15 shooting, with Green scoring 11 points. By quarter’s end it was 18, and Dallas didn’t relinquish it after the half.
CJ McCollum had 27 points and Allen Crabbe 20 as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 110-103 for a third straight win, while Nerlens Noel scored 20 to lead six Philadelphia 76ers in double figures as they beat the Sacramento Kings 110-105 on the road for only their third win of the season. Stephen Curry had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to log in a triple-double a he led the Warriors.
Without Ezeli patrolling the middle, the Mavericks attacked the rim nearly at will, finishing the half with 32 points in the paint. John Wall added 19 points and 11 assists.
Curry headed to the team bus after the game, wearing a Chewbacca backpack and electing not to talk to reporters about his injury.
Mavericks: G Deron Williams (L hamstring strain) was ruled out early Wednesday afternoon. G J.J. Barea continues to start in his place….