Steph Curry certainly gave it his best shot for the Golden State Warriors. After returning from a knee injury, Curry put up a respectable 25 points, six rebounds and three assists against the Oklahoma City Thunder, even if he struggled a bit from the field as he shot 8 of 21 overall.
It even looked like he provided enough of a spark, as the Warriors did find themselves up 117-114 with 1.6 seconds left on the clock after Andrew Wiggins hit a clutch three.
Well, Chet Holmgren had other ideas.
Holmgren had a statement game and finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block while making 14 of 22 shots. Crazily enough, he wasn’t even the Thunder’s leading scorer, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over in overtime before ending the game with 40 points, six rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.
The Thunder’s inside-outside combo made sure that Curry’s return, along with a rare good game from Andrew Wiggins, who had 31 points while making 12 of 19 shots, wasn’t enough in the 130-123 defeat.
The overtime loss is really gonna sting for the Warriors because they couldn’t have done much better. Jonathan Kuminga had a decent night off the bench with 13 points, Chris Paul had a double-double of 12 points, four rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and a block. If there were one big thing to critique, it would be Klay Thompson’s awful shooting down the stretch.
The Warriors don’t have the easiest stretch coming up while Draymond Green’s suspension continues, as he’ll miss three more games against the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, and San Antonio Spurs. Green will be eligible to make his return against the Sacramento Kings, and Curry will be praying that Green doesn’t decide to pick a fight with Domantas Sabonis.
While the Warriors will be happy that their leader has returned, they’ve clearly still got a lot of things to work on. With the Western Conference being a bloodbath this season, they’d better figure it out soon.
