The Golden State Warriors picked up two much-needed wins this past week, and were looking to win their third in a row in Atlanta against the Hawks on Saturday night. And while star point guard Stephen Curry did his part by putting up one of his highest point totals ever, the rest of the Warriors’ roster struggled to produce.
Curry Drops 60 In Atlanta, But Hawks Drop Warriors On Saturday
STEPHEN CURRY TONIGHT:
60 POINTS
6 REBOUNDS
4 ASSISTS
58% FG pic.twitter.com/aOIzDfsFJz
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 4, 2024
It has been essentially a one-man show for Golden State so far this season. They’ve been unsuccessful by their high standards, and entered the day in 12th place and three games under .500 through the team’s first 45 contests. And while Curry is not as dominant as he has been in years’ past, he has essentially been the sole reason why the Warriors aren’t even further down in the standings, and is averaging 27.4 points on 45/40/93 shooting splits in 33 minutes per game.
They needed every ounce of what Curry had on Saturday night, and it still wasn’t enough.
The former unanimous MVP scored 60 points against Atlanta, the second-highest scoring total of his career. He shot 38 times, making 22 of them, and was a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line. 22 of his points came in the 4th quarter of a tightly contested game, and he added eight more in the extra frame after the Hawks sent the game into overtime.
While Curry scored 8 of the team’s 11 points in overtime, the Atlanta scored the first 11 outright and never looked back. The final score wound up being 141-134 in favor of the Hawks.
Struggles For Klay Thompson And Others
Klay Thompson tonight:
10 Points
4-19 FG
2-13 3PT
COMBINED FOR 70 WITH STEPH…AND STILL LOST ‼️ pic.twitter.com/1yOfW8WWVK
— Hater Central (@TheHateCentral) February 4, 2024
The struggles of the rest of the team were apparent, and on par with how the season has gone for them as a whole. The next-highest point total for any Warriors’ player on Saturday was 17, put up by two-way G-League player Lester Quinones. Draymond Green scored 7 in 35 minutes, and Andrew Wiggins had just two points before leaving the game with an apparent foot injury.
But the biggest standout, for all the wrong reasons, was Klay Thompson. The fellow Splash Brother has seen a decline in his performance so far this NBA season, and that was put on full display on Saturday night as Thompson made just 4 of his 19 shots on the night, and finished with a grand total of 10 points in 36 minutes.
It is becoming more and more clear that the Warriors will have to make some kind of in-season trade if they hope to compete this year. And with the trade deadline coming up in just a handful of days, some Warriors players could be seeing their finals games in a Golden State uniform.