With and Without Durant
The confidence and comfort level that Curry has shown when playing with and without Durant this season has been quite evident. Here is how Curry has fared this season:
Curry With Durant: 24.4 points per game, 6.2 assists per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, 1.7 steals per game, 46.8 field-goal percentage, 40.2 three-point percentage, 32.9 minutes per game
Curry Without Durant: 26.9 PPG, 7.6 APG, 4.8 RPG, 2.1 SPG, 47.1 FG%, 42.5 3P%
But it’s not just the numbers. Curry’s sense of freedom, knowing he’s the man in charge and not having to defer, has benefited both himself and the Warriors.
Marcus Thompson, Warriors’ beat writer for the Mercury News, had a great summation of Curry’s struggles this season in assimilating to Durant’s presence following his substandard game on Christmas Day:
"The price for integrating Kevin Durant has been Curry’s brilliance. He’s shown flashes of his usual self. But he has no doubt absorbed the greatest sacrifice of the Warriors’ incumbent stars."
Mind you, at the time of this statement, Curry was averaging 24.1 PPG, 5.8 and 1.8 APG, which included a 39.7 3P%. Hardly terrible numbers, which shows the extent to which both Curry has sacrificed and suffered as a result of Durant’s arrival.
And it comes as no surprise that Curry’s best stretch of the season was enjoyed during Durant’s recent absence with a knee injury. In the midst of Durant’s recent 19 game absence was a season-best 13 game streak, which has now extended to 14 games following Durant’s return. During this winning streak, Curry posted 27.4 PPG, 8.5 APG, 4.3 RPG, 2.3 SPG while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 48.8 percent from downtown.
Notably, Curry’s usage rate rose from his average of 28.4 prior to Durant going down, up to 30.2 during this streak.