Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors are must-watch TV right now, and Sunday afternoon was no exception. Curry put on another incredible display, finishing with 33 points, five rebounds, six assists and six steals, as he led the Warriors to a 105-90 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
With their seventh straight victory, the Warriors have improved to a league-best 18-2, and set up a showdown with the Phoenix Suns who are on a 16-game winning streak. That’s going to be a whole lot of fun, but before we get there it’s worth taking a closer look what Curry did on Sunday.
Part of the magic of Curry is that you’ve seen his act a thousand times, but you still have to tune in because he always finds a way to make it special. That’s exactly what happened in the fourth quarter against the Clippers, as Curry used a missed call and a technical to fire himself up and go on a game-clinching run.
With just over nine minutes remaining in the game, the Warriors got out on a two-on-one fastbreak. Otto Porter led the way and dished off to Curry, who went up to the basket and took a ton of contact from Terrance Mann. The refs weren’t interested, and Curry was absolutely livid after not getting the call.
This was about as mad as Curry has ever been on the court, but he avoided getting tossed. That was bad news for the Clippers, as he used his anger to fuel a ridiculous run a few minutes later. Curry drained three 3-pointers in the span of 75 seconds to push the Warriors’ lead to 18 points and crush the Clippers’ hopes.
He even seemed to increase the difficulty level on each successive shot, as if testing his own abilities. First, a deep pull-up from the top of the key, then one where he went behind the back to shake two defenders and drained it off the dribble. And finally, a full-speed stepback in the corner with multiple defenders in his face. After that one he even broke out the rare sarcastic technical foul call celebration.
“It seemed to get him going,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said about Curry’s technical. Whatever it takes. He clearly got fouled. Steph is a guy who is just so competitive, and when he knows he got fouled, especially on the play like that in transition where it’s right out in the open, easy to see, and he doesn’t get the call, every once in a while he’s going to snap. Doesn’t do it often, but when he knows he’s right, the competitor in him comes out. He’ll lose his mind a little bit, but it often spurs him like it did in this instance.”
Thanks to Curry, the Warriors picked up their seventh straight win and improved to a league-best 18-2 on the season. That sets up a huge Western Conference showdown against the Phoenix Suns, who have won 16 games in a row, on Tuesday night.
