Curry fulfills his long-range dream
Golden State guard outshoots his backcourt brother in N.Y.
BROOKLYN — Stephen Curry was so salty about losing in the three-point competition the first three times he participated that he actually reviewed game tape of past winners before entering Saturday night’s competition at the Barclays Center.
After seeing that the majority of those who won before him had approached the ball racks with the right sides of their bodies, the Warriors’ point guard made the adjustment for an epic Three-Point Contest and set an NBA record by putting up 27 points in the championship round.
“I’m very happy right now,” Curry said. “I wanted to win it
and get it done. Thankfully, I was able to accomplish that.
“It was a crazy, competitive and high-class field of eight shooters. I think this is the best field that’s ever been in a three-point shootout, so it’s a pretty cool moment for me.”
Curry made 20 of 25 shots in the final round, including seven twopoint money balls, to knock off teammate Klay Thompson and 2013 winner Kyrie Irving of Cleveland. Players eliminated in the first round were San Antonio’s Marco Belinelli, last year’s champion; Atlanta’s Kyle Korver, who had made more than half of his threepoint attempts this season; Houston’s James Harden; Portland’s Wesley Matthews; and the Los Angeles Clippers’ J.J. Redick.
The Warriors’ point guard made 13 straight before missing his final shot, and his 27 points beat the 25 put up in 2008 by Jason Kapono, who just happened to be on the Warriors’ training camp roster this season.
“Klay Thompson was right behind me. No way,” Curry said when asked if he knew he had made enough to win. “I knew I had done pretty well, but I looked in Klay’s eyes. He’s obviously capable of putting up 37 points in a quarter, so he can probably knock down a couple of threes and get a high number.
“It was kind of cool for all of Dub Nation to have a 50-50 shot at one of us winning and bringing it back to the Bay Area. We couldn’t have planned that one any better.”
After posting a firstround high of 24 points, Thompson couldn’t match Curry in the championship round. He missed 10 of his final 13 shots and didn’t even attempt his final money ball before the shot clock sounded.
“I’ll probably be a little ticked that I didn’t get it, because you always have such high expectations for yourself, but that’s basketball,” said Thompson, who was participating in his first three-point competition at any level. “I could have gotten 28, but that’s all right. That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes. Hopefully, we’ll go against each other another time in our career.”
The “Splash Brothers” will definitely go at it again in practice, and it sounds as if they’ll do it again on the big stage, too. Curry said he’d like to defend his crown, and Thompson said he’ll return without the nerves he felt Saturday.
After Curry lost in the championship round his rookie season, he failed to make it out of the first round in his next two attempts. Still, he was the overwhelming favorite to win against one of the best fields ever, if not the best.
“Shooting is his thing,” Thompson said. “He’s been doing that since he was born. He’s been putting on a show his entire NBA career and even back in college. I’m proud of him. Hopefully, he’ll let me win next year.”
The Warriors’ guards didn’t place a bet on the competition and egged on one another during their rounds. Before the contest, each selected himself to win the contest and his teammate to win the MVP in Sunday’s All-Star Game. Slam Dunk: After years of disappointing dunk contests, Minnesota’s Zach LaVine posted perfect 50s on two of his four attempts to beat an entertaining field that included Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Orlando’s Victor Oladipo and Brooklyn’s Mason Plumlee. The 19-year-old rookie, a first-round pick last summer after a year at UCLA, leaped to take a pass off the backboard, slipped the ball between his legs and threw down a one-handed dunk — his head near the rim — to beat Oladipo in the finals. Shooting Stars: Miami’s Chris Bosh, Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins and the WNBA’s Swin Cash won the competition for the third consecutive season, knocking off three teams, including the favored squad that featured Curry; his father, former sharpshooter Dell Curry; and the WNBA’s Sue Bird. Skills Challenge: After knocking off Phoenix’s Isaiah Thomas and Atlanta’s Jeff Teague, Houston point guard Patrick Beverley beat Milwaukee point guard Brandon Knight in the finals of the skills challenge.