Steph Curry, on Wednesday night, didn’t look like the player leading the NBA in scoring.
The Warriors’ star scored just five points in the first half of the Warriors’ 114-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets at Chase Center and finished the game with 15 points on the night.
After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked about the big night from Jordan Poole and in the process, offered insight into why Curry had a quiet night.
“Yeah, Jordan was great,” Kerr told reporters during his press conference. “He had such a great preseason shooting the ball and then obviously, a little bit of a slow start from the outside, it was just a matter of time before he got going. And Steph has been under the weather the last couple of days. Clearly was not himself. Still almost came out of the game with a triple-double because he’s Steph.
“But Jordan really picked up the slack, especially in that first half when we couldn’t get much going offensively, so he was great.”
Curry, who entered the night averaging a league-leading 28.7 points per game, made 6 of his 15 shots from the field, including just 3 of his 11 3-pointers. While his shots weren’t falling, he did dish out nine assists and grab eight rebounds.
Poole, on the other hand, finished with a team-high 31 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and 7-of-16 from 3-point range.
The Warriors’ game against the Hornets (5-4) was their first since their win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night. During the grind of an NBA season, it’s unusual to have three straight days off. They scored just 21 points in the first quarter before getting things going in the second quarter and then distancing themselves from the Hornets in the second half.
“I think having three days without a game, you could feel a little bit of rust even though we had good practices,” Kerr said. “Between that and Steph being a little under the weather, it just felt like we were off offensively. Jordan carried us through some of that, and when the defense kicked into gear in that third quarter, it really was something to watch.”
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Despite Curry not feeling well and not being on top of his game, the Warriors’ depth carried them to their sixth win in seven games. Golden State has Thursday off before hosting the 1-8 New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Hopefully, for Curry and the Warriors, he’s feeling better by 7 p.m. PT on Friday.
