The Golden State Warriors are on the brink of getting eliminated in their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA playoffs 2016. Despite having Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to lead the battles against Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the 2015-16 season champs, who defeated LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers in a heartbreaking NBA Finals match last year, can't seem to keep up with the Dion Waiters squad. How could this be happening now?
Sources are claiming that the Golden State Warriors' playoffs woes are rooted on the injuries of Stephen Curry. The unanimously voted NBA MVP had been taken off the hardwood court due to a knee injury during their playoffs series against the Portland Trail Blazers of Damian Lillard. When he came back, however, it appeared that he also returned to his old self. Could the Golden State Warriors be wrong about this? Is Stephen Curry - the same man who helped them break the 72-game winning streak of the Chicago Bulls under the Michael Jordan era - causing them their losses these days?
The answer is no. Steve Kerr himself slammed the reports claiming that Stephen Curry is only at 70 percent of his normal capacity. The Golden State Warriors also went on to question the authenticity of these claims and noted that the information appears to have come from the media themselves.
"Is that 'sources with knowledge of the team's thinking?'" replied Kerr when asked about Curry's health. He added,"Nobody has said anything about Steph being 70 percent to me. Training staff, relatives, friends, sources with knowledge of the team's thinking -- nobody has told me he's 70 percent. Evidently they told the media but not me."
Kerr further clarified, "I know he's not injured -- if he were injured, he would not be playing," Kerr said. "Is he bothered a little bit, perhaps by the layoff when he went three weeks without a game? He may not be quite where he needs to be, but it's not an injury, and that's the important thing."
The Golden State Warriors must win Game 5 of their playoffs series against the Kevin Durant team if they want to remain in the running for the NBA Finals trophy. With the series score at 3-1, the Klay Thompson squad need to find ways to stop the Russell Westbrook squad from dominating the hardwood court. As things stand at the moment, Serge Ibaka and his team have the upper hand in terms of potentially facing off against LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers or the Toronto Raptors of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
"The series isn't over," said Curry following the Golden State Warriors' disappointing 118-94 loss. He added, "We've got to believe in ourselves. There's obviously frustration. It's a terrible feeling once again not stepping up and being ourselves and playing our game. But I think we're a special team. This isn't how we're going to go out."
