Steph appreciates battles vs. OKC after closing out one other huge win initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Bay Space
Stephen Curry already is well-known for his unimaginable expertise on a basketball court docket, and he’s been recognized to flex his athletic prowess on the golf course a couple of occasions.
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In any case, Curry was good as a better for Golden State on Sunday in Oklahoma Metropolis. The 2-time NBA MVP scored eight of his season-high 36 factors within the fourth quarter and made a number of clutch performs down the stretch to assist the Warriors hand the Thunder their first dwelling lack of the season in a 127-116 victory at Paycom Heart.
Not that Curry hasn’t finished it earlier than, particularly in OKC. He’s had a historical past of crushing the spirit of Thunder followers for years and was simply the most recent chapter in his ebook of favourite locations to play.
“I prefer it,” Curry stated on NBC Sports activities Bay Space’s “Warriors Postgame Stay,” after Sunday’s win. “The one factor is cool, over the course of nonetheless a few years there’s solely a pair years the place OKC and us weren’t very related within the Western Convention. However for essentially the most half it’s all the time been a battle and a grind right here. So that you look ahead to it. It’s nice vitality, the followers are nice, their group is nice.
“And it’s clearly nice to get a win.”
For what looks like the umpteenth time in his illustrious NBA profession, Curry shredded the Thunder like a block of cheese. He dropped a season-high 36 factors in 36 minutes and had seven assists with 5 rebounds.
Curry would have had extra had one of many referees not missed a blatant foul towards the Thunder after the Warriors’ sharp-shooter nailed one of many seven 3-pointers he made.
“Steph was unimaginable,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr stated. “Nice rhythm. The impression that he made together with his passing – even when he wasn’t making photographs he was pulling defenders with him and that opened up the entire offense.”
On an evening when Golden State received huge scoring video games from Jonathan Kuminga, DeAnthony Melton, it was simply evident that Curry remains to be the person that drives the Warriors’ wagon.
Simply that shortly, Golden State went from a group who many believed could be hard-pressed to simply qualify for the play-in sport to 1 that’s now being checked out as a severe contender within the Western Convention.
That his newest heroics got here towards the Thunder is actually no shock. Previous to Sunday, Curry had a 26.7 scoring common over 46 profession video games towards Oklahoma Metropolis, his third-highest mark towards any NBA group.
This may need been one of many hardest Thunder group’s that Curry has confronted, too, despite the fact that OKC misplaced its beginning middle, Chet Holmgren, to an harm early within the sport.
Earlier than that, the Thunder had been one of many prime defensive groups within the NBA. They’d a collective defensive ranking of 97.3 and had allowed just one participant to attain greater than 25 factors towards them this season.
Till Curry got here to city.
Curry and the Warriors performed so nicely early on that Kerr had hoped to have the ability to give his level guard some additional relaxation within the fourth quarter. These plans needed to be scrapped after the Thunder trimmed a 30-point result in 114-108.
After a Jonathan Kuminga dunk, Curry helped drive a turnover then raced to the other finish of the court docket, pump-faked on Lugentz Dort then sank a side-step 3-pointer with 2 minutes remaining, Curry additionally made a pair of free throws with 53 seconds left to assist seal the deal.
“Regarded prefer it was going to be an evening the place we may preserve him underneath half-hour once more, after which clearly OKC made that huge run to start out the fourth,” Kerr stated. “Steph did a terrific job of coming again in and shutting it when it received slightly dicey.”
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