On Monday night, the Golden State Warriors let a very winnable game slip away from their fingertips as they suffered a 114-105 defeat at the hands of a Denver Nuggets squad that was without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Stephen Curry, in particular, did not have a good game whatsoever. While he crossed the 20-point mark, he went 6-21 from the field and turned the ball over seven times — with head coach Steve Kerr suggesting after the game that their star man might need a night off.
With the Warriors being on the second night of a back-to-back, the opportunity to rest Curry was there for the taking. And indeed, the Warriors held Curry out of their Tuesday night contest against the Milwaukee Bucks for rest purposes, with the Dubs erring on the side of caution after the 37-year-old star himself admitted that he had been dealing with some back issues over the past few days.
Nonetheless, giving Curry a rest day, according to the Warriors head coach, was done more so to let him recharge in a more holistic manner, not just to address his ailing back. According to Sam Gordon of the San Francisco Chronicle, resting Curry was about tending to ““more of a mental and emotional fatigue than physical.”
“He needs a night off once in a while. He’s for sure earned it,” Kerr said.
Indeed, Curry has been playing well as of late in the aftermath of the Jimmy Butler trade, and at 37 years old, it’s more difficult for him to play at a superstar level every single game considering the accumulation of fatigue. And the Warriors definitely have the talent at their disposal to hold the fort and win a game even with Curry on the sidelines.
Warriors’ time to spring trap game on the Bucks
Last night, it was the Warriors that fell prey to the trap game against the Nuggets. This time around, they will be looking at catching the Bucks off-guard now that they will be without Stephen Curry for that contest.
Jimmy Butler has already implored his teammates to step up and pick up the slack whenever Curry needs a breather, and this game will be the ultimate test of whether or not the rest of the Warriors squad will be up to the task. Butler has done his fair share of heavy lifting in the past, especially on undermanned/undertalented Miami Heat teams, and he seems to always have it out for the Bucks, so expect Golden State to put up quite a fight tonight.
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