Curry’s effort: Too little, too late
Well, there’s the MVP … and the People’s MVP.
Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena, the NBA’s freshly minted MVP, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, was no match for LeBron James and his court.
The Cleveland Cavaliers rocked Golden State 96-91 to take a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals, and in the process they stifled Curry again for emphasis.
Curry led the Warriors with 27 points, but it felt like too little, too late. Curry scored 17 of his points in a fourth-quarter flurry. The takeaway impression was more of the pesky Matthew Dellavedova in his pocket, He was 7for-13 from three-point range.
What has happened to the MVP? He has gone MIA.
With a chance to silence doubters wondering whether his subpar Finals series is related to the head contusion he suffered at the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference final or the brat work of Dellavedova, Curry could not rise to the occasion.
Not here, where the raucous fans are so starved for a championship. Let’s repeat: Cleveland hasn’t won a major sports championship since the Browns won a pre-Super Bowl era NFL crown in 1964, a dry spell spanning 143 consecutive pro seasons.
So it would take a special someone to come into the Q — where James bowed before Browns legend Jim Brown before the tip-off — to squash the vibe attached to that desire.
Curry was not that guy. At least not now.
And as James flourishes with the team and the city on his back while Curry struggles, the debate is if somebody else — maybe No. 23 in the wine and gold uniform — should have been MVP.
Sure, James, who scored 40 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in Game 3, has already won four league MVP awards. And if he keeps up his current roll, he’ll have a third NBA Finals MVP. Curry won the honor for the first time.
Still, consider what happened in crunchtime Tuesday night.
With about two minutes left, Curry whipped a pretty, behind-the-back pass that sailed out of bounds.
Then LBJ came down the court and nailed a three that gave the Cavs a seven-point lead.
You can’t take away Curry’s MVP Award now, won after he helped the Warriors post the NBA’s best regular-season record. But you can remember that it was for the regular season.
This year, with Curry and James playing for all the marbles, the best award is NBA Finals MVP.