In 2015 Curry put on one of the most clutch performances in Finals history
Most 4th Quarter Points during the Finals
1995 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5
2000 Shaquille O'Neal 11.5 (61.1% TS)
2015 Stephen Curry 10.8 [COLOR="Green"](75.1% TS)[/COLOR]
1997 Michael Jordan 10.7 (55.1% TS)
1998 Michael Jordan 10.6 (50.6% TS)
2011 Dirk Nowitzki 10.3 (68.0% TS)
1993 Michael Jordan 10.3
In the 2016 Finals he was not able to play as well as he did in 2015
What happened in 2016 that didn't happen in 2015?
The major MCL injury
The time table for return of an MCL sprain is 2 to 4 weeks.
(Keep in mind that healing timetable is for every day activity, nothing more strenuous than walking up one flight of stairs, NOT playing professional basketball)
Stephen Curry returned from the injury after
only 2 weeks because the Warriors were struggling against Portland without him.
Stephen Curry re-aggravated his knee injury by coming back too early and then playing 40+ minutes of playoff basketball plus overtime in his record setting performance against Portland.
Therefore we can conclude that Curry's MCL injury was the differentiating factor which lowered Curry's production