The Jimmy Butler trade has made life so much easier for Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. But even the best fall down sometimes. On Monday night, it was the Warriors’ turn to fall in classic trap game fashion, losing to the Nikola Jokic/Jamal Murray-less Denver Nuggets, 114-105, after they failed to overcome a brutal shooting night from Curry, who had just 20 points on 6-21 shooting from the field to go along with seven costly turnovers.

Curry was questionable heading into the game due to a back strain, and the Warriors have been very cautious in the past with regards to their star man’s physical well-being. And it looks like the Warriors are well within their rights to be cautious, especially when Curry himself admitted that his back troubles have been nagging him for a few days now.

“I feel like more so my back that I’ve been dealing with the last couple days. See how that responds tomorrow,” Curry said in his postgame presser, via 95.7 The Game on X (formerly Twitter).

The good news is that Curry is not dealing with any other pain points, and that he feels alright even after head coach Steve Kerr asserted that he has been feeling fatigued over the past week or so. It just feels like everything is blown out of proportion especially after his bad night against the Nuggets.

“I feel fine. Obviously, I didn’t play great at all, so everybody, including coach, is gonna try to figure out why. Obviously, turnovers, dumb plays, all night. [When you] have a really good run, you know, [everyone] expects [there] to have a level of consistency and whatnot, so when it doesn’t happen, it becomes a question,” Curry added.

Stephen Curry went through similar stretch earlier this season for the Warriors

Back in December, Stephen Curry went through a brutal stretch in which he had an 0-7 game and a 2-13 shooting night in the span of four days, which was worrying for the Warriors. Of course, Golden State can only go as far as Curry takes them, and those kinds of performances won’t cut it at all.

All Curry needed was a few rest days here and there, and he was back on track soon enough. For the Warriors, it really might be for the best if the 37-year-old gets the night off against the Bucks, playing the long game instead.