Warriors Learning What They Must Fix in Stephen Curry’s Absence

Without Stephen Curry, cracks in the Golden State Warriors’ previously unblemished facade were bound to start showing eventually.

In a 97-96 loss to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center in Game 3, they finally did. And now, with the Rockets showing the first signs of life in a first-round series that felt over before it began, the Warriors must set about repairing the breaches.

Houston put the Warriors on their heels immediately, built a 13-point first-quarter advantage and did just enough to stave off second-half runs to survive. James Harden scored 35 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out nine assists. His game-winning shot with 2.7 seconds remaining helped Houston avert disaster.

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Even if many of his teammates didn’t seem to care:

Dwight Howard was fantastic whenever head coach J.B. Bickerstaff let him see the floor—active, quick, decisive and more focused than he’d been at any previous point in the series. His 13 points and 13 rebounds were reflections of the way he manhandled Andrew Bogut underneath, securing deep position on offense at will. On the other end, Howard summoned spurts of agility and anticipation not seen since sometime in 2010.

Bickerstaff curiously kept him glued to the bench during the game’s most crucial late-stage sequences, though.

For their part, after running over, around and through a disinterested Rockets team in Game 2 without Curry, the Warriors showed little of the same cohesive excellence in this one.

Struggling to score or create sufficient space without the MVP’s offensive gravity, Golden State’s offense sputtered—especially with the Rockets blanketing Klay Thompson away from the ball, denying possession and forcing others to fire. After pumping in 34 points in Game 2, Splash Brother No. 2 managed only 17 on 7-of-20 shooting, missing all seven of his three-point attempts Thursday.

You can run down the list of the Warriors’ usual contributors, and precious few measured up.

Draymond Green played perhaps his worst game of the season, hitting just three of his nine shots and turning it over seven times. Harrison Barnes was routinely torched by whoever he was guarding and couldn’t create his own looks offensively. Andre Iguodala was disengaged and a step slow. Bogut struggled to contain Howard. Festus Ezeli was wound too tight and somehow still hesitant at the same time.

And yet it took Harden’s mid-range step-back with 2.7 ticks left to seal the win. And that shot was only necessary …

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