Stephen Curry, the world’s greatest shooter, has yet to find his mark in his Olympic debut.
The Golden State Warriors superstar has shot 5-of-17 through two games at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including a 1-of-9 outing against South Sudan.
“You’re always annoyed,” Curry told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “You want to make shots.”
Fortunately for Curry, his Team USA teammates have picked up the slack as they remain undefeated in the group play. They did not need Curry’s shooting prowess as they handily beat Serbia (110-84) and South Sudan (103-86) to guarantee a seat in the medal round.
Curry has only hit 3 of 13 from the shorter FIBA 3-point distance.
“I know teams are going to be locked in on tracking me,” Curry said. “So that puts a little more pressure on the shots you get. I kind of forced a couple [vs. South Sudan]. You go from shooting 20-something a game to maybe 6-to-10, so you have to be ready for them.”
Curry pinned the blame on fewer shot attempts than he’s accustomed to with the Warriors. His 8.5 attempts per game in the Olympics are way below his 19.5 field goal attempts with the Warriors last season. But he’s also only playing 21 minutes per game, 11 less than his NBA playing time last season, in a loaded Team USA roster.
Despite the fewer opportunities in a shorter FIBA game, Curry is unfazed.
“The floodgates could open at any time so you don’t ever want to get down on yourself,” Curry said. “You can’t let [missed shots] rob you of all the other stuff you need to do to help the team win.”
Curry hopes it will come on Saturday, August 3, when they wrap up their group play against Puerto Rico. But Jose Alvarado, the pesky New Orleans Pelicans point guard, will present a tough challenge.
‘We Want the No. 1 Seed’
Team USA is gunning for the top seed heading into the quarterfinal round.
“Yeah, we talked with (the players) about it this morning, showed them the standings, showed them the point differential. We want the No. 1 seed,” USA coach Steve Kerr said before Friday’s practice, per The Athletic.
Asked why this is the case, Kerr explained: “It gives you the best matchup in the quarterfinals. So if we drop down to two or three, which I think is unlikely, but we’ve got to take care of our business. We possibly have a much tougher opponent.”
Team USA currently is plus-43 atop Group C, next to Germany’s plus-47 point differential in Group B. The Americans have to beat Puerto Rico, which has the tournament-worst minus-52 point differential, by a big margin to ensure themselves of the best point differential.
A top-2 finish will give Team USA a weaker opponent (7th or 8th-ranked team from group play) in the quarterfinal round, per tournament rules.
Team USA’s Starting Lineup Against Puerto Rico
Kerr plans to return to his most used starting lineup, according to The Athletic.
It means Joel Embiid, who rested in the South Sudan game, will spring back to action alongside LeBron James, Devin Booker, Curry and Jrue Holiday.
But Holiday is doubtful after suffering an ankle injury.
Kerr is not overly concerned if Holiday misses time.
“We have lots of options,” Kerr said.
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