NEW YORK — Steph Curry limped out of Charlotte, N.C., late Monday night and limped into a New York City hotel early Tuesday morning, placing his status for the tougher side of the Golden State Warriors’ road back-to-back against the New York Knicks in legitimate question.
Curry rolled his right ankle against the Hornets. He arrived at Madison Square Garden unsure if he could play, even after a day of treatment. But the stage and the standings provided the motivation and Curry’s pregame routine ensured him that 33 minutes on the tender ankle was doable.
“It was sore, but I had all the strength and stability in it,” Curry said. “Didn’t get worse when I went through my shooting workout. That was a sign I could play.”
Curry opened quietly and the Warriors didn’t play particularly well in the first half. Then came a brief scare. After hitting a corner 3, Curry fell back into the first row and tweaked that same right ankle on a courtside fan.
“That actually woke me up a little bit,” Curry said. “Sleepy first half.”
Out of the locker room, the Warriors came back from double digits to deliver one of their better wins of the season: 114-102 — a comfortable runaway in a difficult environment against a 40-21 Knicks team. It was their 11th road game in their last 13, their third game in four nights and their stiffest test since adding Jimmy Butler. They passed it.
Steve Kerr said afterward he felt his team was developing a “real identity.” What was that?
“Two-way team,” Kerr said. “The last 10 games, I think we are second in both offense and defense. Small sample size, but that’s when we got Jimmy.”
The Warriors won it in the second half on the defensive end. They held the Knicks to 47 combined points in the third and fourth quarters. Moses Moody defended Jalen Brunson well. Draymond Green and Butler caused problems on the back end. They outrebounded a bigger team.
But the message afterward was about a night of growth offensively. Kerr spent the previous few road film sessions emphasizing the need to better utilize Curry’s gravity. Butler, the newest member but one of the league’s sharpest thinkers, was blunt with it.
“When he’s on the perimeter, somebody, anybody, everybody, you’ve got to go to the paint,” Butler said. “That’s gonna be the most wide-open thing. They’re always going to overreact even when he doesn’t have the ball.”
Butler ticked up his aggression level beginning late in the second quarter. He had three straight makes at the rim and powered to the line for nine free throws, finishing with 19 points despite an inability to make his 3s.
“When (Steph’s) on the floor, you gotta know, if you set a screen for him, you’re going to be the one that’s gotta go to the rim,” Butler said. “When they high-side him, he’s so smart, he’s going to go take the layup. But if he comes off of you to go shoot the ball, trust me, your man is going to guard him. Even my man, whenever I do it, will go guard him. Slip in there. Dray normally has the ball, he’s going to pass it to you whether you’re open or not. Then it’s your job to make the right play.”
Here’s Butler’s full sound bite.
Jimmy Butler with a detailed soundbite on utilizing Steph Curry’s gravity
“When he’s on the perimeter, somebody, anybody, everybody has to go to the paint. That’s gonna be the most wide open thing.” pic.twitter.com/ZrGOm7OCQB
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 5, 2025
Kerr said this was the “best we’ve played around Steph.” There were various moments — like the egregious example below, where Gui Santos screens for Curry and then slips for a wide-open dunk — where the Knicks gave up easy points because they were too preoccupied with Curry.
https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2025/03/04235158/GuiDunk.mp4
Butler is 2-of-17 on 3s since joining the Warriors. He hasn’t found a rhythm in the midrange either. He scored 20 or more in his first three games but hasn’t eclipsed that since. But they’re 9-1 with him in the lineup and it’s clear he is feeling more comfortable within the offense even without a big scoring night.
“This is a big win for us turning the corner in how we want to play and how we can adjust on the fly,” Butler said.
How’d they turn the corner?
“Offensively,” Butler said. “Helping myself pick my spots better to get in more of a rhythm. Everybody is always looking for me to be aggressive. Like I tell everybody, I can’t help but to make the right play time and time and time again. I hope that is contagious. Just because the play is for you does not mean that’s your shot. That’s where we turned the corner on.”
With the win, the Warriors kept control of the sixth seed and even inched into more dangerous positioning. They gained two games on the struggling Rockets over the last two nights and have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Houston. There is a bunch of traffic below them, but it’s feasible they can climb to the fifth seed if they can replicate Tuesday night’s performance over the final seven weeks of the season.
“That’s what it looks like,” Kerr said. “Jimmy getting downhill. Guys knocking down 3s. Getting out in transition and getting points off our defense. That second half was a good example of what it can look like.”
(Photo of Steph Curry going to the basket against the Knicks: Elsa / Getty Images)
