Curry, Thompson’s struggles from long distance means rare early playoff exit for Warriors

By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have dominated opposing teams by burying 3-pointers when left wide open or getting clean looks.

However, in the final chapter of what was an arduous season, the defending NBA champions couldn’t get the big shots when they needed them.

Curry and Thompson were a combined 6 of 26 from beyond the arc in Friday night’s 122-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of their second-round series.

The Lakers are moving on to the Western Conference finals, while the Warriors have been eliminated in a playoff series in May for the first time since 2014.

It’s also the first time since the 2014 Golden State’s core three of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green are not advancing to the NBA Finals when the trio is healthy.

“We came up short, which is rare for us,” Green said. “At the end of the day, they (Curry and Thompson) missed some shots. They’re human. If they can get the looks that they got and if our season ends early every year, I’ll live with that. But I don’t think that’s the case. It hasn’t been the case.”

The Warriors were 13 of 48 on 3-pointers. Coach Steve Kerr said he liked seeing his team get open looks early, but they couldn’t convert.

“We were just in a little bit of a rush. I thought we were forcing the issue in the first quarter and missed out a lot of open ones that maybe could have gotten us into a better rhythm,” Kerr said. “I give the Lakers credit. Starting Dennis Schröder put a lot of pressure on us and made the passing lanes tougher.”

Kerr also said he thought the series was decided in Games 1 and 4, which the Warriors lost. In the 104-101 loss in Game 4 on May 8, Curry and Thompson were a combined 6 of 23 on 3-pointers.

The Lakers were determined not to let Curry beat them all series and swarmed him on defense. Golden State also did not have an answer for Anthony Davis and LeBron James, who dominated the paint throughout.

“For us in this series, it was a battle of strengths,” Curry said. “They are a big team. They were trying to take away certain things and it worked. Their game plan was to pressure on the 3-point line and clog everything in the middle. We didn’t have variety in trying to score after Game 2.”

Curry and Thompson were 16 of 33 on 3-pointers in Golden State’s two wins, but were 31 of 97 in the four losses.

Thompson struggled throughout the entire series, and made only 10 of his last 36 attempts from the perimeter.

“That was the worst shooting series that I have had in a long time,” Thompson said. “I don’t think I was pressing. I don’t know if it was fatigue.”

Golden State struggled for most of the regular season, and was in danger of having to make the playoffs via the play-in tournament. But the Warriors made a late run, and won eight of their last 10 to get the sixth seed in the Western Conference with a 44-38 mark.

The Warriors lost the first two games of their first-round series against the Sacramento Kings, but ended up advancing in seven games. That included two wins at Sacramento after Golden State went 11-30 on the road in the regular season.

The Warriors, though, did not have any rest before facing the Lakers and were running on fumes at the end.

“This team probably maxed out,” Kerr said. “We were barely in the playoff picture for most of the year. To win an epic first-round series and then to give the Lakers a fight in this series, that puts us among the top eight teams in the league. That’s probably where we should be.

“This is not a championship team. If it were, we would be moving on.”

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