Time For Steph Curry To Feel Weight Of The NBA Finals

Jun 8, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr (L) talks to guard Stephen Curry (30) on the bench during the second quarter in game three of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Time For Steph Curry To Feel Weight Of The NBA Finals

After an unimpressive performance by Steph Curry standards in the NBA Finals, the pressure is on the unanimous NBA MVP to come up huge in Game 4.

Cavs fans will mostly be interested in what the Cleveland Cavaliers do with Kevin Love should he be cleared to play in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

But perhaps the bigger storyline is Stephen Curry.

The back-to-back MVP hasn’t been great in the NBA Finals, and national pundits are wondering when Curry will come through with a huge game.

The Ringer’s Juliet Litman called out Curry for his lack of production in the series.

“The one revival I’m still waiting on is Finals Stephen Curry. Don’t we deserve a breakout Steph game after slogging through so many blowouts for the past two months? He needs to show his might to combat the instant-memeification of his new shoes. I’ll be watching Game 4 tonight. You should, too — while reading The Ringer,” she wrote.

Curry’s stats back up the perception that Curry hasn’t been great when it means the most.

In the Warriors Game 3 loss, Curry looked uncomfortable, and at one point in the second half, he had more turnovers (4) than points (2).

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He finished the game with 19 points, but it wasn’t a Curry game. He went 3-of-9 from 3-point range and missed a lot of open shots that he usually makes. Even though he ended up with 19, there was still something about the way he got those points. By the way–he turned the ball over two more times before the contest was over and ended up with six on the night.

In Game 2, he had 18 points, and was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, but Curry didn’t need to play that much. The game was basically over by the third quarter.

Game 1 also saw Curry get off to a slow start, as he went 4-of-15 from the field. He turned the ball over five times. Cavs fans saw this game as missed opportunity because Steph played so poorly.

Curry’s subpar Finals is becoming something worth looking at because last season’s Finals also saw Steph humbled. If you’ll recall, he started off very slow en route to the Warriors winning the title, but Curry didn’t start to look like the player we know until Game 5, when he dropped seven 3-pointers on the Cavs and netted 37 points in the win.

Curry ascended into NBA superstardom last season, yet it was Andre Iguodala who won the Finals MVP.

The Kevin Love will he/won’t he play drama will play it self out tonight, but even if Love is eligible, Richard Jefferson needs to be in the starting lineup. RJ doesn’t have to play 42 minutes, but with him in the starting lineup, this team clearly thinks it can win.

With RJ in the game, the Cavs play better perimeter defense, and since Game 4 is equally important as Game 3, Cleveland needs that same tenacity on the defensive end.

But the pressure is on Curry to live up to his title as being one half of the Splash Brothers. A Cleveland win means the Cavs are right back in this thing and guarantees a Game 6 back at The Q.