It turns out that the day Stephen Curry “neared 3 points” was just a rare match in which he lost himself. Exactly one day later, the best long thrower of all time immediately regained his image, a cold shooter and a class leader.
Committing his 5th personal foul midway through the third quarter after Jaylen Brown’s and-1 basket on the other side of the front line, Curry created the backdrop for the Boston Celtics star’s provocative “too small” celebration.
By the beginning of the fourth quarter, Stephen had only scored 13 points and had to play ball with the risk of being disqualified. The Warriors trailed by 11 points and showed signs of falling into a familiar spiral of recent defeats.
However, Stephen Curry did not let that happen. He led Golden State’s equalizing effort to send the game into overtime. At OT, Curry personally sent the Boston Celtics out of the Chase Center arena with a magical 3-pointer.
The great credit in this play belongs to Chris Paul, the 38-year-old defender who recovered the ball before many other younger and stronger players after Stephen’s attempt to score an air-ball basket.
Then Curry himself corrected the mistake after Paul’s pass, throwing in a 3-pointer as the shot clock ticked down to the last second. The “good night” celebration appeared while the 19,000 fans on the field seemed to burst into tears.
Curry’s 3-pointer put Golden State up 4 points with only seconds remaining. The final whistle sounded, the Warriors won with a score of 132-126.
Not Golden State but the Boston Celtics were the dominant team for most of the official competition. Derrick White (30 points) shined for the away team with his impressive ability to hold the ball and score points.
The biggest gap the Celtics had against the Warriors was 17 points at the end of the third quarter (score 87-70). This, combined with Curry’s 5th personal foul, gave Boston fans hope.
However, coach Steve Kerr trusted Stephen and did not keep him on the bench for too long. As a result, PG just reached the milestone of 3,500 3-pointers a few days ago and did not disappoint the teacher.
“At this point, I’m rarely shocked by what Stephen does on the field anymore,” head coach Steve Kerr said about his favorite student’s performance.
“Of course it’s still an excellent throw, a catch-and-shoot and a sky-high trajectory. But I always believe in Steph and his abilities. I believe Warriors fans believed the same when the ball left Curry’s hands.”
After losing himself in the match, Stephen Curry made a spectacular comeback with 33 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds. He had 11-21 FGs and 6 3-pointers.
In the fourth quarter and OT alone, the “chef” scored 20 points (4-5 3PT) and did not make any personal errors to stay on the field and bring home the victory.
“This magic throw is what we need. This victory is also something the whole team really needs. Steph’s brilliance will help steer the Warriors boat in the right direction and hopefully it will create momentum for the next matches later this month ,” coach Steve Kerr added.
In his next appearance, Stephen Curry and his teammates will play two matches in two consecutive days. They in turn face the Washington Wizards at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, then welcome the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. (all Vietnam time).