Curry career-high 62 points lead way for Golden State
Stephen SANFRANCISCO —
Curry twirled an arm in the air to acknowledge a small cheering section of family members in a near-empty arena, then gleefully disappeared downa tunnel to celebrate his best scoring night yet.
Curry let it fly from way out under pressure with a minute-plus left for another perfect swish on theway to a career-high62points, andthe Golden State Warriors beat Portland 137-122 on Sunday night to split the two-game set with the Trail Blazers.
“I love it. I love everything aboutwhat this game offers, the competitiveness and the fire,” Curry said. “I never run from it. Just excited to be in that atmospherewhere I get to play at the highest level and do what I do.”
Curry delivered the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season early in his 12th campaign, finishing 18 for 31 and 8 of 16 on 3-pointers afterbeginningwitha21-point first quarter. He had his 10th career 30-point half to help the Warriors take a 66-54 lead at the break, then doubled his total exactly with his teammates telling him his count at every chance.
“Hewasmakingeveryshot within like 10 seconds and we couldn’t even keep up,” rookie JamesWiseman said.
One small blemish in his brilliant night: Curry had his streak of free throwssnapped at a franchise-record 80 in the first. The run dated to March29, 2019, vs. Memphis.
“And then he just choked. It’s just incredible,” cracked coach Steve Kerr, who jokingly offered the game ball toWiseman before handing it over to the most deserving recipient.
Against Portland, Curry made a career-high 18 of his most attempts yet at 19. No fear, the 6-foot-3 Curry even took it right at imposing 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic.
“He did a little bit of everything,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
Curryboogied.Hesmacked the floor and screamed in delight. The 32-year-old twotimeMVPclosed his eyesand showed off a open-mouthed grin as brother-in-law and teammate Damion Lee poured water over his head — this kind of night was a long time coming after a broken left hand limited Curry to five games in the coronavirus-shortened 2019-20 season.
“When you have something to be excited about you kind of feed off your own energy,” said Curry, whosays the “great ones” learn how to block out the critics and embrace the expectations.
“He came out looking like a man on a mission,” Draymond Green said.
Damian Lillard scored 32 points for Portland, and CJ McCollum added 28. McCollum shot 2 for 8 from deep after his 25 3-pointers over the initial five games left him and Curry as the only players to ever do so.
After Portland’s 25-point winFridaynight, theWarriors wereembarrassedanddetermined to be more aggressive and defend better after the Blazers came out firing to finish 20 of 43 from deep — and they looked more energetic on the defensive end. Portland shot 14 of 43 on 3s Sunday.
Curry did it allonthe other end. When he sat down for good in thewaning seconds andreceivedhugsfromteammates, the piped in crowd noise seemed extra loud in an arena devoid of real fans.
“It’sjustaprivilegetocoach him, it really is,” Kerr said.