warriorfan
08-18-2016, 12:03 AM
Perhaps the most critical segment of this series came at the end of the third quarter of Game 4, Cleveland cutting the Warriors lead to three. The Q was rocking. The Finals hung in the balance.
Curry calmly called for the ball, shook a defender and drained a three, pushing Golden State to a six-point lead. In a reversal of roles, a gassed LeBron tried to answer with a three of his own at the buzzer, only to miss badly. When James went to the bench to rest at the start of the fourth quarter, the Warriors seized control of the game and the Finals.
Curry finished with 22 that night. He then dropped 37, including 17 in the fourth quarter, in Game 5. On Tuesday, he dropped a couple of massive threes to help stem a fourth-quarter Cleveland surge, then when double-teamed, hit a wide-open Klay Thompson for another.
Not only did Curry average an MVP-like 26 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 43 minutes per game, but as Kerr told his point guard, sometimes a point guard has to put his own game now in favor of managing the game for his teammates.
That is what Curry relayed when he said in the postgame press conference, "The Finals are not that different from normal NBA games. It's just the spotlight is different, and soar are the expectations. When you have an average game, you find out in the Finals that people were expecting more. But really, that stuff doesn't matter. It's all about winning. That's what I've learned. I just need to impact games, be myself every other night, do other things to help my team win and be OK with that. Manage the game from a point-guard standpoint, find a way to win and that's what we did … At the end of the day, stats really don't matter. It really doesn't matter."
This coming from a man who still had 25 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists in 43 minutes from a Game 6 that he was supposedly managing the game for others, downplaying his own role.
This coming from a man who still scored 156 points in a six-game Finals with a .585 true shooting percentage—a scoring total and efficiency only topped by three players in NBA Finals history (who all also did it coincidentally in six-game series): 1992 Michael Jordan, who scored 215 points with a .617 TSP; 2011 Dwyane Wade, who scored 159 points with a .614 TSP; 1987 Magic Johnson, who scored 157 points with a .590 TSP.
They did it with a wizard, Stephen Curry, at point guard. Curry nailed three key threes in Golden State’s 105-97 Game 6 victory in Cleveland Tuesday night, because that’s what he does. In the clincher, however, the regular-season MVP’s passing stood out. He patiently let the Cavs double-team him far from the basket – what choice did the Cavs have against a guy who can sink shots from Cincinnati? – and hit cutters down the lane. Or flipped one-handed passes down low. Or skipped the ball cross-court, or into the corner, to open three-point shooters. Curry had eight assists. Golden State finished with 13 three-pointers.
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4bYYPLGiZavZr6odQMT2_61HGAc=/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3783750/warriorsball.0.gif
http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55785bd86da811a06574389c/draymond%20miss%201.gif
https://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/game-3-4.gif
http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/557856666bb3f7950ef731a9/stephen%20curry%203.gif
Most 4th Quarter Points during the Finals
1995 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5
2000 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5 (61.1% TS)
2015 Stephen Curry 10.8 (75.1% TS)
1997 Michael Jordan 10.7 (55.1% TS)
1998 Michael Jordan 10.6 (50.6% TS)
2011 Dirk Nowitzki 10.3 (68.0% TS)
1993 Michael Jordan 10.3
2015 Steph Curry had one of the most clutch performance in NBA history. The only player to score more 4th Quarter Finals points than Steph Curry was Shaquille Oneal, and he didn't even score one point more than Curry while Curry scored 14% more efficiently than Shaquille
In the 2016 Finals he was not able to play as well as he did in 2015
What happened in 2016 that didn't happen in 2015? The major MCL injury
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m_8DziMFB8s/0.jpg
The MCL is one of four ligaments connecting the femur bone to the tibia at the knee. It helps keep the knee stable as it moves from the outside to the inside.
So the lateral movements are going to put pressure on the ligament.
Athletic trainers refer to what’s called a “valgus” position — that’s when the knee is turned inward toward the center of the body, and the MCL stretches to keep the joint stable.
Most people naturally stand in a slight valgus position, meaning they are putting a little pressure on their MCL without even trying. Playing basketball just adds to that stress, especially during quick lateral movements
“That valgus position occurs pretty often in basketball,” said Meredith Petschauer, an exercise and sports science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “because what you have to do in basketball all the time is plant your foot and turn in a different direction.”
Curry had a lack of lateral quickness and ability to change direction because of his MCL injury
Here is a clip of healthy Curry showcasing his excellent lateral quickness and change of direction
https://media.giphy.com/media/vJJxhc46rAsnK/giphy.gif
These types of plays were routine for Curry before the MCL injury
The time table for return of an MCL sprain is 2 to 4 weeks.
(Keep in mind that healing timetable is for every day activity, nothing more strenuous than walking up one flight of stairs, NOT playing professional basketball)
Stephen Curry returned from the injury after only 2 weeks because the Warriors were struggling against Portland without him.
Stephen Curry re-aggravated his knee injury by coming back too early and then playing 40+ minutes of playoff basketball plus overtime in his record setting performance against Portland.
Therefore we can conclude that Curry's MCL injury was the differentiating factor which lowered Curry's production
Curry calmly called for the ball, shook a defender and drained a three, pushing Golden State to a six-point lead. In a reversal of roles, a gassed LeBron tried to answer with a three of his own at the buzzer, only to miss badly. When James went to the bench to rest at the start of the fourth quarter, the Warriors seized control of the game and the Finals.
Curry finished with 22 that night. He then dropped 37, including 17 in the fourth quarter, in Game 5. On Tuesday, he dropped a couple of massive threes to help stem a fourth-quarter Cleveland surge, then when double-teamed, hit a wide-open Klay Thompson for another.
Not only did Curry average an MVP-like 26 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 43 minutes per game, but as Kerr told his point guard, sometimes a point guard has to put his own game now in favor of managing the game for his teammates.
That is what Curry relayed when he said in the postgame press conference, "The Finals are not that different from normal NBA games. It's just the spotlight is different, and soar are the expectations. When you have an average game, you find out in the Finals that people were expecting more. But really, that stuff doesn't matter. It's all about winning. That's what I've learned. I just need to impact games, be myself every other night, do other things to help my team win and be OK with that. Manage the game from a point-guard standpoint, find a way to win and that's what we did … At the end of the day, stats really don't matter. It really doesn't matter."
This coming from a man who still had 25 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists in 43 minutes from a Game 6 that he was supposedly managing the game for others, downplaying his own role.
This coming from a man who still scored 156 points in a six-game Finals with a .585 true shooting percentage—a scoring total and efficiency only topped by three players in NBA Finals history (who all also did it coincidentally in six-game series): 1992 Michael Jordan, who scored 215 points with a .617 TSP; 2011 Dwyane Wade, who scored 159 points with a .614 TSP; 1987 Magic Johnson, who scored 157 points with a .590 TSP.
They did it with a wizard, Stephen Curry, at point guard. Curry nailed three key threes in Golden State’s 105-97 Game 6 victory in Cleveland Tuesday night, because that’s what he does. In the clincher, however, the regular-season MVP’s passing stood out. He patiently let the Cavs double-team him far from the basket – what choice did the Cavs have against a guy who can sink shots from Cincinnati? – and hit cutters down the lane. Or flipped one-handed passes down low. Or skipped the ball cross-court, or into the corner, to open three-point shooters. Curry had eight assists. Golden State finished with 13 three-pointers.
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4bYYPLGiZavZr6odQMT2_61HGAc=/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3783750/warriorsball.0.gif
http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55785bd86da811a06574389c/draymond%20miss%201.gif
https://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/game-3-4.gif
http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/557856666bb3f7950ef731a9/stephen%20curry%203.gif
Most 4th Quarter Points during the Finals
1995 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5
2000 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5 (61.1% TS)
2015 Stephen Curry 10.8 (75.1% TS)
1997 Michael Jordan 10.7 (55.1% TS)
1998 Michael Jordan 10.6 (50.6% TS)
2011 Dirk Nowitzki 10.3 (68.0% TS)
1993 Michael Jordan 10.3
2015 Steph Curry had one of the most clutch performance in NBA history. The only player to score more 4th Quarter Finals points than Steph Curry was Shaquille Oneal, and he didn't even score one point more than Curry while Curry scored 14% more efficiently than Shaquille
In the 2016 Finals he was not able to play as well as he did in 2015
What happened in 2016 that didn't happen in 2015? The major MCL injury
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m_8DziMFB8s/0.jpg
The MCL is one of four ligaments connecting the femur bone to the tibia at the knee. It helps keep the knee stable as it moves from the outside to the inside.
So the lateral movements are going to put pressure on the ligament.
Athletic trainers refer to what’s called a “valgus” position — that’s when the knee is turned inward toward the center of the body, and the MCL stretches to keep the joint stable.
Most people naturally stand in a slight valgus position, meaning they are putting a little pressure on their MCL without even trying. Playing basketball just adds to that stress, especially during quick lateral movements
“That valgus position occurs pretty often in basketball,” said Meredith Petschauer, an exercise and sports science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “because what you have to do in basketball all the time is plant your foot and turn in a different direction.”
Curry had a lack of lateral quickness and ability to change direction because of his MCL injury
Here is a clip of healthy Curry showcasing his excellent lateral quickness and change of direction
https://media.giphy.com/media/vJJxhc46rAsnK/giphy.gif
These types of plays were routine for Curry before the MCL injury
The time table for return of an MCL sprain is 2 to 4 weeks.
(Keep in mind that healing timetable is for every day activity, nothing more strenuous than walking up one flight of stairs, NOT playing professional basketball)
Stephen Curry returned from the injury after only 2 weeks because the Warriors were struggling against Portland without him.
Stephen Curry re-aggravated his knee injury by coming back too early and then playing 40+ minutes of playoff basketball plus overtime in his record setting performance against Portland.
Therefore we can conclude that Curry's MCL injury was the differentiating factor which lowered Curry's production