Steph Curry’s 60 Point Night Isn’t Enough As Golden State Warriors Fall To Atlanta Hawks In Overtime

Despite Steph Curry’s other-worldly performance, the Golden State Warriors fell to the Atlanta Hawks in overtime last night, 141-134. Putting up a ridiculous 60 points, Curry joined the legendary Kobe Bryant as the only two players over 35 years old to hit the 60 mark. Unfortunately, it was all for nothing, as Dejounte Murray buried a game-tying mid range jumper at the end of the fourth to force overtime, where the Hawks dominated. The Dubs starters remained the same with Curry, Klay, Wiggins, Kuminga and Draymond. As for injuries, Chris Paul, Gary Payton, and Moses Moody continued to be sidelined, though a return for Moody may be in the near future. For the Hawks, key players Saddiq Bey and DeAndre Hunter were in street clothes as they tended to short-term injuries. 

Clint Capela won the tip but after a quick turnover, Klay Thompson scored the first points of the game on a nice feed from Draymond. Three plays later Klay cashed in on a three ball, but it was all downhill from there for the sharpshooter. Four minutes in, Dejounte Murray got a dunk down low sandwiched by two Capela buckets to help Atlanta take a 10-7 lead early on. Kuminga answered with a short jumper followed by a Curry and-1 and a Draymond three pointer to bring the Warriors back up five, 15-10. The next few minutes were slow, but Steph took the lid off the rim with a trey to bring the Dubs up 18-14 with just over four minutes to play. Both offenses kicked it into gear to end the quarter. Up 30-25, the Warriors surrendered a three to Trae Young with one second on the clock, but Lester Quinones nailed one from half court to beat the buzzer and make it a 33-28 game after one period. Quinones hit another one from beyond the arc early in the second, but the Hawks took a 40-38 lead on a Jalen Johnson long ball with eight minutes on the clock. The lead continued to shift back and forth as Klay striped one from downtown to put Golden State in front but a few plays later Dejounte Murray scored three straight buckets to give Atlanta a 57-52 advantage with under four to play. The Warriors called a timeout and came out of it hot going on a 12-5 run highlighted by a smooth Curry three pointer. Up 64-62 with under 60 seconds to play, Capela snared a missed shot and put it back to even the score and send the Hawks and Warriors into the break level at 64.

Atlanta started to pull away a bit in the third, as about half way through they took an eight point lead, 84-76. Though Curry buried a three plus the foul and Quinones knocked down a middy and one from beyond the arc to knot it back up at 89 apiece. Quinones missed a three at the buzzer, and with 36 minutes in the books, neither team had created any separation. The Hawks struck first in the fourth taking a three point lead on an Onyeka Okongwu corner trey. Three minutes later the Dubs took the lead back thanks to a TJD and-1 and a pair of Kuminga free throws. Jalen Johnson found his rhythm knocking down a three and getting two nice buckets at the rim to put Atlanta up 104-100. But after Steph cut the lead to two on a layup, he grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled up court and pulled up for three, draining it and putting Golden State up 105-104. A few minutes later, Curry and Trae traded threes but when Trae sputtered out, Curry stayed hot burying one shot after another and helping the Dubs go up 121-117 with 1:46 on the clock. Okongwu and Trae got fouled and went 2-2 from the charity stripe on consecutive possessions to tie the game. Then after a Draymond turnover, it looked like Atlanta would pull off the late game comeback, but Murray missed one from downtown and Curry sank a tough floater with 11 seconds left to make it a 123-121 game. Murray made up for his miss and knocked down a clutch mid range jumper to tie the game with four seconds. And after Curry missed a game winner, overtime was needed to decide a winner. 

The Hawks dominated in overtime, going on an 11-0 burst and essentially ending the game before the Dubs could even score a point. Curry did get a layup and two more threes to keep things interesting, but in the end it wasn’t enough as there wasn’t enough production elsewhere to keep up with the high scoring Atlanta offense. The buzzer sounded and the Dubs were handed their fifth loss in eight games by a score of 141-134.

Curry had a career night, recording 60 points on 10 threes. Nobody else on the team scored more than 17. Kuminga had a solid 16 on 6-12 from the field, but Wiggins and Klay severely struggled as Wiggins went 1-6 for 2 points while Klay went 4-19 for 10 points. Dray was his usual self, decent all around with 7 points, 8 dimes and 6 boards. Off the bench, Quinones played his best basketball of the season putting up 17 points with 4 threes on a 6-11 clip, while Podz was right behind him with 15 points and 11 boards on 6-12 from the field. For Atlanta, Trae led the way with 35 points on 7 threes. Johnson and Capela both had double doubles, as the former put up 21 and 13 while the ladder recorded 17 and 15. Murray had an inefficient 19 on 9-24 from the field. Off the bench, Okongwu had an excellent game snagging 16 boards while scoring 22 points while Bogdanovic went 5-16 from the field for 13 points. 

Taking a look at the team stats, there were several areas that the Warriors need to improve on. First and foremost, they need to focus on both limiting their turnovers and forcing opponent turnovers. They coughed it up 14 times while only taking it away 7 times. There are a plethora of things that are consistent with winning organizations and the turnover margin is one of them. The Dubs also got dominated on the inside as the Hawks scored 72 points in the paint compared to 56 from Golden State. 

The Warriors drop to 21-25 after the loss and are in need of answers. Can they find consistent production outside of Steph? Do they need to make a big trade or keep their core? What is wrong with the defense? Fortunately, in a few weeks the team will get an extended break during the All Star break where hopefully they can reset and come back and make a push towards the playoffs. Next up on Monday night is a game against the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are far below .500 and should be a winnable game. I predict either Wiggins or Klay will score 20+ and the Dubs will get a big win 123-108.