NBA stars on fire to start season

Curry, Durant and Griffin latest with big nights

Blake Griffin had this season’s highest-scoring game for all of about 24 hours before Stephen Curry bettered it in just three quarters.

Then in Golden State’s next game, after Curry poured in 51 points in a rout of Washington, Kevin Durant scored 25 in the fourth quarter, the best total of his career, and finished with 41 in a victory at New York.

With the Warriors’ big nights and Griffin’s 50-point outburst for Detroit coming in just a four-night span, it continued a torrid start for scorers that Curry said made it seem like “everybody’s clicking at the same time.”

But count Curry among those who aren’t sure if the offensive onslaughts being seen now will still be seen in a few months.

“Those are just great players just making plays, having great nights. That’s not any different than any other year,” he said.

“We’re six games in. We’ll see how it goes.”

Damian Lillard has already had a pair of 40-point nights and Kemba Walker was one point shy of doing the same. That comes after there were 13 50-point performances last season with MVP and league scoring champion James Harden doing it four times, including a 60-point night.

The increased emphasis on the three-point shot and the league’s focus on allowing freedom of movement on the perimeter have opened up the offences. Players who aren’t known as scorers can have big nights and retired players think they would have been unstoppable in today’s game.

“I’d average easily 35-40 points a game. Easily,” twotime scoring champion Tracy McGrady said in a quote tweeted by the Orlando Magic. “I mean, I averaged 32 without even shooting that many threes.”

Curry has made at least five three-pointers in every game, but even guys who don’t stray outside the arc are benefiting from it.

“I know the uptick isn’t that great, but what goes with the teams shooting so many threes is it spreads your defence out,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said.

That’s usually how a guy like Griffin has traditionally got his points, but as he showed Philadelphia in his big night, his game also extends now into three-point territory.

Curry and Durant, meanwhile, are both averaging more than 30 points. Can they keep it up?

“Why not?” Curry said.

Steve Kerr has coached against him in the last three NBA Finals, so he knows how good of a coach Tyronn Lue is. Yet he wasn’t surprised when Cleveland decided to fire Lue Sunday.

“Nothing really surprises me in the NBA,” Kerr said.

Larry Drew will be the interim coach for the Cavs, who try to end their 0-6 start Tuesday against Atlanta.