With Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, David West and Jordan Bell among the players unavailable, the Warriors lost their second straight game on Sunday, falling to the Timberwolves 109-103.
Golden State’s offense struggled, especially without Curry in the fold, shooting just 40.7 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three. The lack of offense forced Kevin Durant to again become a volume shooter, scoring 39 points on a season high 32 shots.
After the game, Durant was asked about adjustments the Warriors have to make to their system when Curry is out. KD’s answer? Curry is our system.
“Steph is the system here, and he’s been a part of this since Steve Kerr has been here,” Durant said. “D West knows how to play, won a championship ring last year. Andre’s in the same boat as Steph. Those guys are smart and we’re looking forward to having them back, because they definitely change our team, and get us back to what we want to do out there as a basketball team. We have a system in place that maximizes everybody’s strengths, and if you take a few guys out it’s a totally different game.”
Kevin Durant on the challenges of reforming the offense without Steph Curry: “Steph is the system here” pic.twitter.com/zHzEbNXSag
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 11, 2018
Few players in the NBA have the same affect on their teams as Curry does when he’s on the floor. Amongst all NBA players, Curry is third in real-plus minus, increasing Golden State’s point differential by 5.90 when he’s on the floor. Curry is considered day-to-day with a tweaked ankle, and is questionable to return when the Warriors play the Lakers on Sunday.