The Golden State Warriors’ commanding 110-88 victory over the Thunder in Oklahoma City Saturday night earned the team its first pair of back-to-back wins since the All-Star break.
To make it three wins a row against a surging San Antonio Spurs team Monday night, on the road?
Just too much.
On a night when Andrew Bogut entered the lineup for the first time this season (filling in for DeMarcus Cousins, who was out with an ankle injury) and Kevin Durant returned to the lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury, the glue should have been sharpshooting guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. But with no shooting consistency to be found between the two, the Splash Brothers went splat — and so did Golden State.
Curry and Thompson combined for a stunning 13-of-43 from the field for a team-high 25 points and 14 points, respectively.
That breaks down to 9-of-25 from the field and 6-of-18 from three-point range for Curry, and 5-of-18 overall, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, for Thompson.
Shooting slumps happen. But the last thing the Warriors needed was for two of their best to go ice cold at a time in the regular season when the team already is skating on thin ice, while other Western Conference teams surge in the final stretch before the playoffs.
It was the exact wrong time for the Splash Brothers to go splat.
In fact, Dub Nation normally would rejoice a 61-foot three-pointer by Stephen Curry to tie the game at the first-quarter buzzer:
But in the context of a loss, amid a post-All-Star break skid?
Not so much.
In his return from a two-game absence, Durant scored 24 points.
