Curry has big night against Trail Blazers
For the newcomers it’s first time they’d seen his greatness
Playing NBA 2K while sitting in his bedroom in Nashville, Tennessee, a high- school aged James Wiseman would play with the Golden State Warriors and routinely score 60 points with a virtual Stephen Curry.
But in Sunday’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers, he witnessed Curry’s 62-point outburst as his teammate. For the 19-yearold Wiseman, it was his first time seeing a future Hall of Famer play at a Hall of Fame level.
“Actually watching it in person,” Wiseman said, “that was phenomenal. He’s a legend.”
Besides Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, no one else on the Warriors roster has played significant time with Curry. And, prior to Curry’s historic night, none had witnessed these “Curry flurries” as his teammate.
But Kelly Oubre Jr., in his first year with the Warriors, did have one of the best seats in Oracle Arena when, in October of 2018, Curry scored 20 points in the third quarter to wipe away Oubre’s Washington Wizards and finish with 51 points on 24 shots in 31 minutes.
“He’s an anomaly, man,” Oubre said after Sunday’s 137-122 win against Portland at Chase Center. “I was just happy to be on the same side as him tonight, because I know it stunk for the other team.”
After seven years as head coach, Steve Kerr has acquired a sense for when Curry is poised for an outburst.
“You could see it coming,” Kerr said. “It was just a matter of rhythm and getting his legs underneath him and finding his offensive groove.”
That’s because in practice, Curry — who on Sunday played in just his 11th game in 18 months because of a broken hand and a prolonged offseason — had been starting to show signs of the Curry of old.
Guard Mychal Mulder was on the phone with his high school coach last week when he noticed a couple songs had played over the speakers at their practice facility, and Curry still had not missed a 3-pointer.
Eager to witness something specia l, Mulder ended his conversation and watched as Curry sank the last of his 105 straight 3-pointers. When Curry finally missed, Mulder and several teammates erupted in applause.
“He’s the greatest 3-point shooter to ever walk the earth,” Mulder said. “It’s crazy to watch, but it’s not surprising out of him.”
So when Curry finished the first half of Sunday’s win with 31 points, his teammates knew to keep getting him the ball. As Curry made shot after shot, players on the Warriors bench shouted his updated point total. His 14 points in the third quarter were followed by 17 in the fourth, all in 18 minutes.
“He was making every shot within like 10 seconds and we couldn’t even keep up,” Wiseman said. “It was crazy.”
For those watching on TV, Curry’s eruption was entertaining. But for the organization, it was heartening. At 3-3, the Warriors are considered a fringe playoff team with a closing title window. Curry, at 32, may only have a few years remaining of his prime, but coaches and teammates point to his work ethic as a reason not to doubt his longevity.
“He just works his tail off every day, and I witness it and I see it,” Oubre said. “It just motivates me to work hard as well.”
This is the effect the Warriors hope Curry has on his new teammates.
Curry was still wiping away the sweat from his career night in the Warriors’ locker room when Kerr approached Wiseman, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, with the game ball. Or, as Green recalled, so he thought.
Kerr pump-faked Wiseman, congratulated him on the first double- double of his career, and flicked the ball to Curry. Wiseman didn’t mind. As the team’s youngest player, he pays his respects.
“Obviously,” Green said, “that ball went to Steph.”