That’s how you show you’re still the best PG in the game. Steph Curry once again proved his all-time greatness as he led his beloved Warriors to a crushing 120-100 Game 7 victory over the upcoming Sacramento Kings, setting up a Second Round matchup against LeBron James’ LA Lakers.
Is there a more clutch player in the NBA right now than Steph Curry?
I hate to sound like one of the media heads on the usual suspect channels, but there’s a very valid case that Steph Curry is one of the Top-5 greatest players who has ever stepped foot onto an NBA court, let alone at the PG position.
Sure, I’m a huge a fan as the legends, such as Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Allen Iverson, Oscar Robertson, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas, etc., and probably more of a fan of them than the very media heads I’m talking about (who seemingly forget the NBA was around before the year 2000), but there’s really never been a player like Steph Curry.
Putting aside his 4 NBA championships, 6 NBA Finals appearances, 1 Finals MVP, 2 MVPs, 2 scoring championships, 9 All-Star nominations, 8 All-NBA teams, 2009/10 All-Rookie Team, and inclusion on the NBA 75th anniversary team accolades, Curry is the very embodiment of the team he plays for: a Warrior.
No matter the challenge ahead of him, whether it be devastating ankle injuries, injuries/poor performances from his supporting cast, or the menacing skillset and potential from his opponents, Curry has always found a way to win through his legendary shooting prowess. And this game proved it.
After blowing a golden opportunity to close the series out in Game 6 on home court, the Warriors found themselves down early to a younger, hungry, and relentless Sacramento Kings team.
At multiple stages in the 1st half, the Kings would take a 5–7-point lead over GSW as Domantas Sabonis (22 PTS, 8 REB, 7 AST, 2 BLKs) was dominating in the paint early, while Malik Monk (14 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST), Terence Davis (14 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 45% FG shooting, 40% 3-point shooting), and De’Aaron Fox (16 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST, 1 BLK) were scoring relatively well from the field and beyond the arc.
Yet, whenever the Kings looked like they were about to blow the game open and win their first series since 2006, one man pushed them back down into their place. Do I really need to say who it was?
In a career playoff high, Steph Curry posted 50 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, made 20 FGs (53% FG shooting), and 7 3-pointers (47% 3-point shooting), which was obviously all game highs for both teams in scoring and shooting.
It’s incredible how Curry was able to ward off the overbearing hand of Father Time on this Warriors squad once again as apart from Kevon Looney (11 PTS, 20 REB, 4 AST, 10 OFF REB), who was a monster on the boards in the second half as the rebounds show, the rest of the team didn’t show up.
Klay Thompson had just 16 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, and shot 21% from the field (4/19) and 20% from the arc (2/10), Jordan Poole had only 8 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, the rest of the bench who played (aka: Jonathan Kuminga, Gary Payton II, Donte DiVincenzo, and Moses Moody) had a combined 10 PTS, Draymond Green (8 PTS, 6 REB, 8 AST, 2 STLs) scored single digits, and Andrew Wiggins had a modest 17 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, and shot under 32% (31.5% to be exact) from the field.
And, with the whole Warriors squad only shooting 43% from the field (43/100), 32.6% from the 3-point line (15/46), and a worrying 63.3% from the free throw line (19/30), they really should have lost this game and had their dynasty ended at long last. But Steph Curry wouldn’t allow it.
His 50 points not only was a playoff career high, but it was also an NBA Game 7 record.
Yes, that’s right, there’s not a single player in the entire history of the league, including Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem-Abdul Jabhar, Wilt Chamberlin, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, Shaquillie O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James, to put up 50+ points in a Game 7 situation. You know, the most high-pressure, intense situation in sports?
Essentially, all by himself as he scored 42% of the Warriors 120 PT tally, 47% of the Warriors 43 FG tally, and 47% of the Warriors 3-point FG tally, Steph Curry beat a Sacramento Kings side that was destined and set to overtake Golden State as the premier California NBA team. And he did it in style as the Warriors ended up winning by 20 points…even though they started the 2nd half down 58-56.
If these facts alone don’t prove that Steph Curry is on the Mt. Rushmore of NBA legends and perhaps the greatest player of this century (so far), then let the Warriors vs. Lakers series be the determining factor.
I know LeBron James is unanimously seen as the better player and only second to Michael Jordan (in many people’s opinion) in the all-time greats list, but James and Curry are currently tied in number of championships, Curry has a better record in the NBA Finals than James (Curry: 4/6, James: 4/10), Curry’s Warriors have beaten James’ Cavaliers 3/4 times they faced one another in the Finals, Curry has a better head-to-head record over James in both regular season and postseason appearances (15-7), and Curry has two scoring championship to James’ one.
Yet, LeBron has more All-NBA nods (18 vs. 8), more 1st Team All-NBA nods (13 vs. 4), more All-Star appearances (19 vs. 9), more postseason appearances (16 vs. 9), more NBA Finals MVPs (4 vs. 1), more regular season MVPs (4 vs. 2), 5 All-Defensive 1st Team appearances to Curry’s 0, 6 All-Defensive Team appearances to Curry’s 0, 5 Defensive Player of the Years awards to Curry’s 0, and he is the current NBA points leader with 38,652 PTS (Curry’s not even in the Top-25).
But I don’t think one’s greatness should be based solely on stats alone, so this argument will never be settled as these two are totally different, unique, and one-of-a-kind players we’ll never see in the league again. So, it’s kind of silly to determine who is the better player…even if it’s possible as they’ve both played in the same era.
Nevertheless, the Warriors vs. Lakers series will be one of the best of all-time.
I have no doubt about that.
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