Again, Curry, Lee don't do much down stretch

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The Warriors were in another tight game on Wednesday nightand failed to come through down the stretch. They ended up with another loss this one a painful 93-91 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers.The Warriors have not fared well in close games this season,and what has remained consistent throughout is how little Stephen Curry andDavid Leetwo of the teams cornerstone piecesare involved at the mostcritical times.REWIND: Some crunch-time stats for Warriors players
Thats what happened again on Wednesday. Lee had a nicegame, scoring 29 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, but he didnt score after histhree-point play with 3:39 put the Warriors up five.REWIND: Lee's 29 not enough; Warriors fall to Blazers 93-91
Curry didnt do a whole lot late, either, although he didmanage to coax a foul out of Gerald Wallace after getting double-teamed. Currymade both free throws to put the Warriors up 90-88 with 1:17 left.But overall, Curry took just one shot in almost ninefourth-quarter minutesa missed 3-pointer with five minutes leftand thatjust doesnt seem like enough for a guy who is one of the games bestshooters.RELATED: Jackson addresses lack of late production from Lee, Curry
Not to mention a player the Warriors organization hasexpressed a desire to build around.And Lee hasnt been a factor when its come to picking upthe scoring slack late in games. Hes still looking for his first real big basketof his Warriors career and his first field goal at any time in the last twominutes of a close game this year.The argument on the other sideand validis that neitherCurry nor Lee has been put in a position to make important shots when the gameson the line. Most of the time the ball is in Monta Ellis hands, and theres noquestion Ellis is the teams best scorer and perhaps only player on the teamcapable of creating his own shot.But in Wednesdays loss to Portland, it wasnt Ellis takingmost of the late-game shots because Ellis didnt play in the fourth quarter.Instead, it was Nate Robinson who was in on every play. Or seemingly just aboutevery play.Robinson made some big buckets, no doubt. But he missed afew too many, including a runner in the lane with 32 seconds left that couldhave tied the game.And then on the games final possession -- one that startedwith six seconds and an inbounds pass in the backcourt -- Robinson lost controlof the ball while trying to create in the lane, and got it to Brandon Rush toolate in the corner.But forget the fact that Robinson didnt make those plays. Perhapsmore noteworthy was that Robinson took nine shots in the fourth quarter, andthe next closest player to him was rookie Klay Thompson with three.In other words, Curry and Leetwo of the franchises mosttreasured playerssimply dont get involved enough, or at all, when thestakes are highest. Again, perhaps thats the case because the ball is mostlyin the hands of Ellis down the stretch, or in Wednesdays caseRobinson.But the other part of that is maybe neither player isinjecting himself into the actionenoughor at all.Regardless why its happened, its clear that entrustingEllis and Robinson with virtually all the end-game decision-making hasntworked well for Golden State. If thats the case, isnt it time to force-feedsome touches for Lee and Curry? At least make them show you they cant doit.And if Lee and Curry cant get it done or they dont wantany part of getting it done, well, wouldnt that be good to know movingforward?

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