Curry peaks with his best ball of season
SAN ANTONIO — Early in the second quarter Saturday night, after getting whistled for his third foul, Stephen Curry glanced toward the Warriors’ bench.
All acting head coach Mike Brown needed to see in that moment was a slight nod from the two-time reigning NBA MVP. At risk of potentially losing Curry for crunch time, Brown kept him on the floor.
“It’s just a matter of knowing I can trust a guy like that,” Brown said after practice Sunday.
Golden State trailed the Spurs 41-37 when Curry picked up that third foul. Though careful not to draw another whistle, he soon used his signature mix of deep three-pointers, dizzying
dribbling and pinpoint passes to fuel a 24-8 run that gave the Warriors a 61-49 lead with less than two minutes left in the half.
It was yet another reminder that he is still the player who became the first unanimous MVP in league history last May. After hearing throughout the regular season about his inability to replicate the best shooting season ever, Curry has hushed his critics with a steady stream of awe-inspiring highlights.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, after threading the ball between his legs, Curry stepped to his left and, on a crossover, sent Utah center Rudy Gobert — a Defensive Player of the Year candidate — into a 360-degree spin. In Game 2 of the West finals, Curry made San Antonio center Dewayne Dedmon slip and fall on his backside with only a hesitation — no major ballhandling display.
Early in the third quarter of Saturday’s Game 3 win, not long after engineering that big first-half run with three fouls, Curry shed 6-foot-11 LaMarcus Aldridge in the corner with back-to-back crossovers before knifing down the baseline and lofting a high-arcing floater over Danny Green. “Whoa, beautiful ball-handling from Curry!” ESPN analyst Mike Breen exclaimed on the telecast.
“Obviously, I’ve got a nice rhythm, nice flow to what I’m doing,” said Curry, who, with 21 points in Game 3, passed Rick Barry (1,776) to become the franchise’s all-time postseason scoring leader. “I’m playing aggressive. I’m trying to balance playmaking, scoring, all my different responsibilities when I’m out there on the floor. Things are going well.”
Last season, Curry followed up his first MVP award by shattering his league record for three-pointers made. He joined Steve Nash and his head coach, Steve Kerr, as the only players in NBA history to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor, 45 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line. His play led Golden State to an NBA-record 73 wins.
It all set such a high standard for Curry that, even as he teamed with Kevin Durant to power the Warriors to 67 victories this season, he faced repeated questions about his dip in production. His greatness had become routine to some. Though he did enough to earn his fourth straight All-NBA selection, Curry left many wondering why he hadn’t delivered as many of his trademark six-second dribbling and shooting spectacles.
Now, with Golden State on the verge of a series sweep Monday at AT&T Center, Curry is playing his best basketball of the season. With the Warriors 11-0 in the playoffs, Curry leads the NBA postseason in three-pointers made (48) and is fifth in scoring (27.9 points per game) while dishing out 5.5 assists. He is averaging 30 points on 55.6 percent shooting in the West finals to go with 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
“He’s playing at an extremely high level,” Brown said. “His all-around game has been, in my opinion, phenomenal.”
Curry followed up a sterling regular season last year with a forgettable postseason. He tried to push through ankle, knee and elbow injuries, but was worn down as the Warriors squandered a 3-1 NBA Finals lead to Cleveland. He averaged 22.6 points during that seven-game series, 7.5 points below his league-leading regular-season output. He had more turnovers (30) than assists (26).
It was enough for Curry to develop a plan in the offseason to not overburden himself: rebuff a chance to play in the Olympics, trim his in-season sponsorship responsibilities and spend most off days unwinding with his wife and two daughters. These days, he is so in command that Brown had no qualms deviating from accepted practice to let Curry play through early foul trouble Saturday.
“I’m a pretty good negotiator, so I won that one,” Curry said with a chuckle. “I tried to do my part not to make him regret the decision at all.”
“I’m playing aggressive. I’m trying to balance playmaking, scoring, all my different responsibilities when I’m out there.” Stephen Curry, Warriors guard