Star power: While under biggest spotlight, Curry’s play is award-worthy
Are the NBA Finals a foregone conclusion? Is there any mystery left? After all, the Warriors have a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals after their 122-103 win over the Cavaliers in Oakland on Sunday.
But there’s still drama. Who is going to be the NBA Finals’ Most Valuable Player?
The crowd at Oracle had a favorite candidate. When Cleveland’s J.R. Smith — whose gaffe in Game 1 might have saved the Warriors’ collective bacon — was announced, he got a huge cheer. And when he went to the free-throw line, an “MVP” chant went up in the arena.
Mean? Yes.
Funny? Undeniably.
But there are other MVP candidates. They
included the obvious one: Stephen Curry.
The Warriors’ point guard might not admit it, but he wants the award. Curry’s resume has an empty slot for it. And he’s playing like he deserves it.
On Sunday, Curry set an NBA Finals record with nine three-pointers, breaking Ray Allen’s record of eight set in 2010 with Boston. Along the way, Curry also surpassed LeBron James for the most three-pointers made in NBA Finals history, with 90.
“That’s a pretty cool deal to accomplish, knowing who has held the record,” Curry said of the nine threes. “But at the end of the day, it’s all about trying to get a win. I never woke up was said, ‘Let’s go get nine threes and get the record.’ It was more about playing the game the right way, having good intentions out there and good things happen.”
Good things are happening. His excellent game Thursday was overshadowed by all the weirdness. In Game 1, Curry played 46 minutes, scored 29 points and had nine assists and six rebounds.
On Sunday, Curry came out directing traffic and tempo. He finished with a game-best 33 points, including 27 from behind the arc. With about eight minutes left in the game, he made an off-balance threepointer as the shot clock was winding down, providing the game’s greatest highlight.
“He just kept going backward, I don’t know why,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. “I don’t think it had any chance of going in, but that was kind of like a dagger shot and it gave us all the momentum back. So that was my favorite.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green said that when Curry is feeling it, it’s important to get him the ball.
“If he gives you the ball, make sure you give it back,” Green said. “It’s hard to be the guy trying to shoot the ball when he’s got it going. It’s a big letdown. Even if you make the shot, they’re not going to scream as loud, anyway. So give him the ball and get out of the way . ... It was like dagger after dagger.”
Though the fans at Oracle want Curry to score and score some more, his assists are some of the prettiest parts of his game. On Sunday, he had eight. The aesthetic quality of the Warriors’ game — and specifically, Curry’s game — is only enhanced after the series against the Rockets, with their boring isolation basketball.
Curry had only one point in the third quarter, when he was 0-for-5 from the floor. He responded with five three-pointers in the fourth. There was speculation on social media that some jawing with Kendrick Perkins, who was on the Cavaliers’ bench, got him going.
“Much ado about nothing,” said Shakespeare Curry.
“Good movie,” said Thompson.
“Great movie,” said Curry. (We’re going to guess they knew it was a play for several hundred years before it was a movie.)
Curry also chooses to say the Finals MVP is much ado about nothing. Before the Finals started, he was asked about missing that award from his otherwise glorious career. Though he has played well in the Finals, except in 2016 when he was injured, he has been overshadowed.
“It took to the second question of my first media availability, so I’m pretty sure that narrative’s going to take on life, as it has since 2015,” he said. “But it doesn’t make or break my career. If we win this championship and I don’t win Finals MVP, I’m going to be smiling just as wide and just as big.
“But I’m going to play aggressively, confidently with that right energy and motivation to help my team win. And usually when I’m in that mind-set, good things happen. Whether that means it’s a Finals MVP or not, who cares? But I’m going to be playing like it, for sure.”
He is and it is quite a thing to witness.
There are some other MVP candidates. There’s stealth candidate Shaun Livingston, who is perfect from the field and has played some key minutes. And the sentimental candidate in Thompson, who shook off a serious ankle sprain to play 34 minutes and score 20 points.
“I didn’t realize how much you use your ankle until you hurt it,” Thompson said.
“You should have asked me,” cracked Curry, who was so severely plagued by ankle injuries early in his career, one could not have envisioned him at this stage.
The longshot MVP candidate would be James, who — if the Warriors prevail — could end up being the first Finals MVP for a losing team since the Lakers’ Jerry West in 1969. Last year’s MVP Kevin Durant? After an unimpressive Game 1, he was dominant and efficient Sunday, hitting his first five shots, finishing 10-for-14 for 26 points.
But the electricity is coming from Curry.
A foul by Kevin Love on another Curry three-pointer, turning it into a four-point play, gave the Warriors a 16-point lead. While Curry stood at the free-throw line, the fans chanted “MVP.”
This time, they weren’t kidding.