What slump? World’s best shooter eases concerns with 35 points in blowout
Traditionally, when the Warriors throw a blowout bash, Stephen Curry lines up the snacks, the bartender and the band. People yearn to be near him, hoping some of that magic wears off, and he’ll put it all in perspective with a few choice words.
For a long stretch of Oracle’s Game 3 party on Sunday night, Curry was just some guy without a date. He was involved, yet oddly invisible. The world’s greatest shooter seemed felled by a nasty hangover.
And then it happened. Curry produced a stretch of third-quarter magnificence that de-
fined the Warriors’ 126-85 victory over Houston — and an era. However long it lasts, and we’re now four years deep, Golden State’s postseason run will always come back to Curry. He’s the prince of every highlight film, the master craftsman of his time. And this particular stretch, covering a shade under three minutes on the game clock, was one hellacious show.
As the teams broke for intermission, Curry was 1-for-7 from three-point range, making him 3-for-20 from beyond the arc in the series. That’s a serious malaise for a man of his caliber. He’d rushed a few shots, but he missed some wide-open looks, too. His contributions had come mostly on defense, where he took some early hits in pick-and-roll isolation but wound up forcing 2-for-8 Houston shooting on the occasions when he was the primary defender.
With his shot temporarily on holiday, Curry took it upon himself to attack. He duped Chris Paul on a sharp cut to the hoop and converted a threepoint play to open the thirdquarter scoring. Trapped in the left corner, he broke free around James Harden to score on a driving finger roll. Then he lost Paul on a beautiful right-handed reverse layup to put the Warriors ahead 70-53.
“It was really important that he got to the basket,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “They’d been kinda pressuring him, trying to force him to drive the entire series. He took those lanes tonight, and it opened the floor for him.”
What happened next was best described by head coach Steve Kerr.
“The dam broke,” he said. And Curry broke the Rockets’ heart.
Confidently pulling up as if he’d hit his past dozen threepoint attempts, Curry nailed a brazen 30-footer that brought down the house.
“Just that momentum, you feel the building shaking,” Warriors guard Shaun Livingston said. “It gets every man going. We’re all just going crazy on the bench.”
It was such a liberating shot for Curry, he stopped to have a brief moment to himself, pumping his fists hard, and then again.
“You keep searching for a way,” he said. “You put in so much work, blessed with this talent to shoot the ball, you try not to feel like the world’s crashing down on you. But I never lose confidence in myself.”
As Kerr said, “You don’t become a two-time MVP by just shooting a bunch of threes. Steph’s got unbelievable stamina and physical toughness, mental toughness. For four days, everybody’s been talking about him. What he did tonight didn’t surprise me, because that’s who he is. He’s got unbelievable character, great talent, and he always rises when he needs to.”
What is it about Curry’s long-range genius?
“His three-pointer is similar to some people’s dunk,” Green said. “You go to certain arenas and a guy gets a dunk and it’s just absurd. That’s how his three-ball is.”
From that point on, said Curry, who scored 35 points, “It was like an avalanche.”
Isolated beyond the perimeter against Harden — the playoff matchup NBA people have been anticipating for months — Curry hit another three-pointer for a 78-56 lead. Then he completely lost Harden to score over Luc Mbah a Moute on a driving scoop shot. Curry was a perfect 7-for-7 in that quarter, and the rest of the game was a joyous formality — time to realize that so many other Warriors, notably Livingston, Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney, offered powerful contributions to the cause. Even Nick Young stepped out of his comfort zone, aggressively grabbing three rebounds.
“Tonight was just all about defense and taking care of the ball,” Kerr said. “We’re thrilled how Looney has played, how Nick has played. We had a lot of guys step up and make them earn every point. That’s what this is all about.”
It was important for the press to know, however, what went through Curry’s mind when he turned to the crowd at the climax of his third-quarter brilliance and yelled, “This is my f— house!”
He looked almost sheepish in reply.
“I blacked out,” he said. “I blacked out. It’s almost like you’ve got to be your biggest fan sometimes.”
Curry needn’t have apologized. Those few seconds brought him into everyone’s world. It was a marvelous thing to be shared.