The Houston Rockets held Stephen Curry to just 18 points in their 119-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals series.
It was the lowest scoring output in Curry's 17 career Conference Finals appearances. The standards are high for the two-time league MVP who also added six rebounds, eight assists and two steals to his stat line.
While those numbers are a solid outing, head coach Steve Kerr still expects Curry to play better than he did in Game 1.
"I thought he was very patient," Kerr said postgame. " I think that's important, he only had one turnover in the game. He had eight assists.
"I thought he managed the game really well. I think his best is still to come, that's what's encouraging."
Including Monday night Curry has played five games since returning from an MCL injury that saw him miss the Warriors' last 10 regular season games and first six playoff games.
He's averaging 23.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists in 32 minutes - all down from his 2017 playoff run. While his offensive number have taken a dip, Curry has been better defensively in the small sample size of his return.
Last year's playoffs he had a defensive rating of 104.0 - this year he's cut it down to 97.9. His defense will be tested against two of the league's most dynamic guards in James Harden and Chris Paul.
"He played 35 minutes, he made some big plays for us," Kerr continued. "I think he's going to get even better as the series goes on which is exciting for us.
"He's still in the first stages of his comeback from his injury. I think he's just kind of measured and doing what he knows he has to do - he'll go from here."
