Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry had a great first half vs. the LA Clippers on Saturday afternoon, scoring 18 points on 6/8 shooting. This success did not continue in the second half for Curry, as the Warriors surrendered a 22-point lead while the superstar point guard went just 1/10 from the field in the second half.
Even despite Curry’s second half struggles, the Warriors had every opportunity to close this game out and get a win. Following Paul George’s go-ahead three with just under 8.9 seconds remaining, Curry had an isolation opportunity against Kawhi Leonard, but kicked to the corner for a Draymond Green three that clanked off the iron to end the game.
When asked about this possession after the game, Leonard said, “The last play, just trying to do the best I can. [Curry is] a great player, he can shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor, off one leg, out of cadence. Just try to stay in front of him. My teammates did a good job, Russ was right there, stepped up and kinda made him think about it and he passed it to the corner.”
As Leonard noted, Russell Westbrook was helping off of Green to cut off Curry’s driving lane, which forced the pass to the corner. Able to still recover and get a great contest on Green’s game winning attempt, Westbrook came up big on that possession.