Commentary: With Kevin Durant out, will ‘old’ Stephen Curry return for Warriors in Rockets series?

Thursday morning, there was a lot of talk – on social media, in barbershops, on radio and TV shows – that the “old” Stephen Curry showed up in Game 5 of the NBA’s Western Conference semifinals.

With Kevin Durant out for the final 14 minutes with a calf injury, Curry – who had been in a shooting slump – put on a performance that reminded some of his back-to-back MVP years, leading Golden State to a pivotal 104-99 win over the Houston Rockets and a 3-2 series lead.

Only, Davidson men’s basketball coach Bob McKillop, who coached Curry in college, isn’t sure “old Steph” ever went anywhere.

“What did he have? Twenty-five (points) last night,” McKillop said. “You’re starting to sound like ESPN. What’s wrong with Steph? Nothing is wrong with Steph. You miss shots and you make shots.

“The whistles are a little bit less (in the playoffs). There’s a lot more bumping and grinding. Guys know each other because they’re playing within a 24- to 48-hour time period, and the pressure of playing NBA playoff basketball is extraordinary. I think what’s happened is not just typical for Steph but for a lot of NBA players. It’s tough to perform at a high level every night at this stage.”

Curry has battled through a grotesque injury to a finger on his left (non-shooting) hand and, in recent games, has not looked like perhaps the greatest shooter who’s ever lived. The low point might’ve been his 7-for-23 shooting performance in Saturday’s Game 3, when he missed a myriad of easy layups and a wide-open dunk that saw him become a social media meme.

But Curry responded with a 30-point, eight-assist, four-rebound Game 4, and backed that up with a brilliant fourth quarter Wednesday night. And his team needed all of it.

The Rockets, who had trailed by 20 in Game 5, took a lead about a minute after Durant limped off the court late in the third quarter. Before Durant’s departure, Curry had blown a 3-point shot and a layup. He told reporters afterward that it was his lowest point of the game.

Curry had also played listlessly at the start, scoring his first points late in the second quarter, winding up with only 5 at intermission on 2-for-8 shooting.

But with Durant gone, Curry scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter. He sank two 3s, four free throws and probably made Houston fans reconsider any assumptions that Durant’s absence will allow the Rockets to blow through the next two games. The series resumes Friday night with Game 6 in Houston.

“Steph just went into a different mindset,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told the media after the game. “Kind of reminded me of four, five years ago, before we had Kevin, when we were highly dependent on Steph generating a lot of our offense.”

McKillop has seen this type of performance from Curry before, too.

Back in 2008, Davidson played West Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic. Curry was the nation’s leading scorer, but missed 12 of 13 3-point attempts to start the game. But, buoyed by his teammates, who urged him to keep shooting, Curry scored 13 of his team’s last 15 points in a 68-65 win.

“That’s the greatness of Stephen Curry,” McKillop said. “He doesn’t let a missed shot affect his next shot or let a missed shot impact his belief in team concepts. For a guy who shoots as well as he does, he still passes as much as he does and sets screens and plays off the ball as much as he does. This guy is a consummate team player.”

With Durant out for the remainder of the series, McKillop expects Golden State will play differently, possibly playing 6-10 Jonas Jerebko and 7-foot Andrew Bogut more.

“Stephen Curry plays whatever role will help his team win, and that will not change,” McKillop said, “He may get more shots, and he may have different guys on the court now to get him more shots. For example, Bogut and Jerebko may be in more, and their primary function will be to get more shots for Steph and Klay (Thompson).”

But will that be enough for Golden State to hang on win the series? TNT analyst Charles Barkley doesn’t think so. And as ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith said Thursday, Houston felt that if Chris Paul didn’t get injured last year, the Rockets would’ve beaten the Warriors – and that was with a healthy Durant.

McKillop, however, isn’t making any promises. Well, he makes just one.

“I’m not going to be one of those guys on ESPN to predict what’s going to happen,” he said. “I know Stephen Curry and I know you’ll get the best performance he can give and the best teamwork he can possibly offer every time he steps on the court. That’s all I know.”