After all, the 33-year-old had finished the first half in a long-distance shooting slump, having gone 1 for 7 in a 117-116 home loss to the Denver Nuggets in the pre-break finale, two games after having had even less success (1 for 8) against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since sinking 6 of 17 triples in a 22-point performance in Golden State's 104-94 win over Portland on Dec. 8 in their most recent head-to-head, Curry has shot just 34.7 per cent from long range over his last 30 games, dropping his season percentage to a career-low 37.9 per cent (not counting 24.5 per cent in a 2020 season cut short by injury).
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said his team, which has lost four of its past five games, has bigger concerns than worrying about Curry's 3-point shooting.
Golden State was last seen getting overpowered by Denver's Nikola Jokic (35 points, 17 rebounds) to cap a five-game stretch in which they were continually bullied by opposing big men and outrebounded on average by 8.8 per night.
Some expected the Warriors to search for answers in the buyout market leading into the second half, but Kerr said he hopes things change if/when James Wiseman (knee) and Draymond Green (back) return from injuries.
"I really don't think it's a matter of replacing Draymond or James with a big," Kerr said. "It's about us finding our energy and our collective will defensively and then getting those guys back hopefully soon."
Portland will be without big man Jusuf Nurkic, who is out for at least four weeks with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He had a run of seven straight double-doubles come to an end in the Blazers' final game before the break, a 123-119 win at Memphis in which he contributed 32 points.
Interestingly, this Warriors-Blazers duel will be the 10th in the last 18 in which either Curry or Damian Lillard has been unable to play. Lillard will miss this meeting as he did on Dec. 8 following abdominal surgery.
Anfernee Simons has more than taken up the slack during Portland's four-game winning streak the third-longest among NBA teams coming out of the break. He scored 29, 30, 31 and 31 points in the spree, shooting 51.1 per cent overall and 46.9 per cent on 3-pointers.
"I didn't expect this," Simons said over the break. "Sadly, all of the injuries (including Lillard) happened, and trades (especially CJ McCollum to New Orleans) happened. It just kind of elevated me."
