He hasn't been Steph Curry with the shot.
The league's Most Valuable Player has struggled so far in his team's Western Conference semifinal series against the Memphis Grizzlies, one that sees the Golden State Warriors stuck in an unexpected 2-1 series hole, with Game 4 still to come at The Grindhouse on Monday.
It's unfamiliar territory for the Warriors, who rarely lost back-to-back games this season - and for Curry, who hasn't had such a poor three-game shooting stretch since a brief three-game skid in mid-March.
"It's frustrating, but it's fun," Curry told reporters after Game 3.
In three games, Curry has shot 23-of-59 overall and 8-of-29 from outside, percentages of 39.7 and 27.6 - a far cry from the numbers he produced in the regular season.
He's still averaging 21.3 points and 6.3 assists in the series, but the Grizzlies have done a masterful job taking away his room to operate around screens, getting a hand in his face on the perimeter and chasing his teammates off the line when he dishes. That's been especially true in transition, where the Grizzlies have negated some turnover issues by recovering artfully to prevent open transition triples.
"I have to play better, for sure, no question about that," Curry said. "I have to play better for us to win games, especially on the road. I hold myself to a high standard - haven't reached it yet. Looking forward to the challenge of getting to that level in Game 4."
There's reason for optimism for Curry and the Warriors. Curry is only shooting 25 percent on threes classified as wide open and 37.5 percent on threes classified as just open, based on data from NBA.com. During the regular season, Curry shot 47 percent and 45.7 percent on those looks, respectively, and there's a good chance that some regression to the mean is coming.
Curry averaged 23.8 points and 7.7 assists in 80 regular season games, shooting 48.7 percent from the floor and 44.3 percent from long range. He has a preternatural ability to get himself enough room to shoot and deliver when he fires.
But a seven-game series is a small sample, and the Warriors, who have shot poorly as a team outside of their MVP, have to hope the numbers correct quickly.
