That. Was. Insane.
Just when you think Stephen Curry can’t do anything else to blow your mind, he reaches another level and drops your jaw like you’re in a Tex Avery cartoon.
Such as nailing a 32-footer with less than a second to go in overtime to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder. Which is exactly what happened and gave Golden State a 121-118 win in OKC.
That shot was Curry’s 12th three of the night, tying the record for most in a game (he’s equaled Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall for that honor).
That was Curry’s 288th three-pointer of the season, breaking his own record for most threes made in a season.
Curry is now the first player in NBA history to hit 10 or more threes in consecutive games.
It took every bit of that and Curry’s 46 points — and more, like key Andre Iguodala free throws — to lift the Warriors past a Thunder team looking to establish its credentials as a contender.
OKC looked the part early, racing out to a double-digit lead behind Kevin Durant‘s hot shooting and an “anybody but Curry” defensive strategy. It worked at first, but you can only contain Curry for so long. While Curry had four threes in the first half, the rest of the Warriors had zero. The Thunder led by 10 after one quarter and 11 at the half. The Thunder were getting their shots in the paint, owning the boards, and on defense OKC’s length bothered Golden State.It all worked. In spite of how the game ended, there was a lot Billy Donovan and the Thunder could take away from this game as positive. They were able to pound the Thunder inside and control the tempo for large stretches. Durant finished the game with 37, Russell Westbrook 26.
But the Thunder also had to leave the game asking: “Can we beat this team four times in seven games?”
Eventually, Klay Thompson (32 points) and the other Warriors started to find their groove, and they closed the gap on the Thunder. And once Curry got going, his range seemed infinite. The only thing that slowed him down was when Russell Westbrook unintentionally landed on Curry’s ankle, turning it in the third quarter. Curry asked out of the game and limped straight back to the locker room. However, he got it retaped and came back in the game a few minutes later, draining threes like nothing ever happened.
Still it looked like the Thunder were going to win in regulation until, in the final seconds, the Warriors made a steal and got the ball ahead to Iguodala, who missed the shot but was fouled by Kevin Durant. Iguodala hit both to force overtime.
Which was all just setting up Curry’s overtime heroics.
