“The Splash Brothers have become more of a drizzle” Colin Cowherd believes Stephen Curry is in dire need of Kevin Durant
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Colin Cowherd explains Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant combination
Sports TV personality Colin Cowherd identifies Kevin Durant as one missing piece of the Golden State Warriors’ roaster to challenge for the NBA title, as Stephen Curry’s heroics are not enough for them against the Ime Udoka’s Boston Celtics, until Game 3 at least.
Golden State Warriors lost their 2nd game in the 2022 NBA Finals, and are at a tight spot going forward against a tough Boston Celtics defense. Sports media personality Colin Cowherd believes that Stephen Curry needs Kevin Durant to win the 2022 championship. Though it is quite impossible in the current scenarios, the 2017-18 Warriors team seemed better equipped to tackle the current Boston Celtics team. The Golden State Warriors though lodged a strong challenge of winning the Western Conference Title without Durant; they have not been able to match up with the strong and set Celtics’ defense. Cowherd believes that the “Splash Brothers” are not consistent in their shooting, and are more of a drizzle. Even though Klay Thompson performed much better in Game 3, yet Steph is left-alone on the offensive end majority of times.
Just like Eastern conference games, the Celtics are easily overpowering their opponents and unfortunately, the Warriors have no answer to it. Defensively also, Golden State is leaking too many points as the tall-heighted Boston players are cruising whilst scoring points in the paint.
Stephen Curry and Golden State Warriors are in need of some offensive firepower
Personally, Steph has been brilliant in the 2022 postseason games and scoring at a rate of 30 odd points even against the league’s best defensive team. But his heroics are not proving decisive in the game, as other Warriors’ stars are struggling to get into the offensive rhythm. Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole provided some flashes of inspiration in some “quarters”, but never looked consistent enough.
Similarly, Andrew Wiggins is playing more at the defensive end of the game, and averages just around 15 points. Other than Stephen Curry, every other Warriors offensive player has below average scores in this series – comparing their pre-finals scores.
Also, Draymond Green has had two terrible games so far, putting up single-digit stats. In a recent 116-100 loss, Green could only score two points, four rebounds, and three assists. He even got fouled out after 34 minutes, leaving the team more vulnerable in the closing stages of the game.
While analyzing the 2 losses, 58-years old Cowherd said that Klay has not been impactful and forceful enough n both ends of the floor. Colin went further and admitted that he sees Kevin Durant as the missing piece for the Golden State Warriors.
Cowherd said, “I thought it was crazy for KD to leave the Warriors, and Brooklyn’s been a mess. But you know what Steph Curry misses in this series? He misses Kevin Durant. Klay’s been good, but you’re watching the series. Great Steph plus good Klay, not enough.”
Cowherd emphasized Thompson’s limitations and his defensive struggles against Boston Celtics. He even targeted 3-time NBA Champion Klay for lack of midrange scoring. Cowherd further added, “The Splash Brothers have become more of a drizzle. He’s just not the same. He’s not as a good a defender. There’s two reasons why the Warriors really really need Kevin Durant in this series. One, which is obvious, he’s a get-a-bucket guy. He can create his own shot.”
Praising 2-time NBA Finals MVP Durant for his time with the Warriors, Colin sees him as the perfect answer to Celtics tactics. For KD Colin said, “The second thing is Kevin Durant is a willing defender, and he’s long. Look how small the Warriors look in this series. They just need his length. How many offensive rebounds last night did the Celtics have?”
To be fair, Durant did struggle with the same Celtics defense in the 1st round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. But had he been with this Warrior’s team, we could have seen a different picture altogether. KD could have been a more forceful scorer, helping the team to have more control over the series.
Replacing a player of Durant’s caliber is nearly impossible. But the Warriors have done a decent job getting this far. They are still in the series despite trailing 2-1. It is a seven-game series, and the Warriors have not lost back-to-back games this postseason.
Golden State Warriors need to step up their tempo
The Warriors have had an impressive season so far. Even though they are not as lethal offensively, post-Durant period, they finished the season strongly and even secured the top spot for a while in the West.
But after routing their opponents in the Western Conference games, the Warriors looked completely different team against a physical and defensively strong Boston Celtics team. The 3-point king is doing all to keep the team in the race, still poor 4th quarter or overall shooting from his teammates is not helping the cause. 6-time NBA Champions need to pull up their sleeves if they want to keep their championship hopes alive.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)