The 2022-23 NBA season is about to end in less than 10 days. It’s a wild journey this year, with only seven teams having clinched playoff berths so far. Despite being defending champions, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors are currently sitting just a game away from risking a play-in seed.
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The Warriors have not had the best season. Dealing with personnel changes, injuries, and various other issues, the defending champions have coasted near the .500 mark for most of the year. Their road record is the worst in the league, and that is something they haven’t been able to figure out all season long.
Last season, the Warriors were brilliant on the road, including in the playoffs. Recently, Al Horford joined JJ Redick on Old Man and the Three, and they discussed LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and the Warriors Game 4 at the TD Garden.
Al Horford praised Stephen Curry for taking on a ‘hostile’ TD Garden
In 2022, the Golden State Warriors surprised everyone when they roared their way to the NBA Finals. After missing the playoffs for two straight years, Stephen Curry and the Warriors went back to a familiar space, making their 6th NBA Finals in 8 years. However, they were put on the backfoot straight away. The Celtics came to Chase Center, and beat them in Game 1. The Warriors tied up the series, but going back to TD Garden, Celtics took the lead again in Game 3.
Steph got injured in Game 3, as Al Horford fell on his leg.
While there were doubts about Curry playing in Game 4, he knew he couldn’t afford to miss it. He came to the Garden on June 10th and showed us why he’s an All-Time Great. Steph went off for 43 points, ten rebounds, and four assists as he led the Warriors past the Cs to level the series.
However, this win was greater than a series equalizer, and the Warriors knew it. Steph lit a fire which helped them burn through the green, and secure the Championship. Talking about his Game 4 performance, Al Horford said,
“Credit to Steph[Stephen Curry], and what he did. What he did what pretty unbelievable. The Garden is such a hostile place and for him to go there and kind of take over the game in those moments. Once he did that, I remember when we went back to the locker room, the way I heard them celebrate, as a team, winning that game, at that moment it felt like they’d won the Championship!”
That game was not just a game though. It not only tied the series heading back home, but also provided them the momentum to go ahead and seal the series.
Can Steph replicate the same this year?
Basketball is a team game, not an individual sport. There are five guys on the court at any time, and 15 men in total. While Stephen Curry has shown us time and again that he’s capable of taking over at any given time, that alone isn’t enough to win a seven-game series.
As long as the people around him pitch in with equal efforts, the Warriors can once again pose a serious threat in the post season.
