Stephen Curry’s 38-footer a ‘momentum shifter’ for Warriors
NEW YORK — Stephen Curry took a bounce pass from Jimmy Butler on the edge of the Brooklyn Nets’ halfcourt logo with his back turned to the Golden State Warriors’ basket and three seconds left in the first half on Thursday.
Without even taking a dribble, Curry launched a turnaround 3-pointer between two Nets defenders from 38 feet that hit the bottom of the net. Even by Curry’s standards of burying ridiculous 3-point bombs, the degree of difficulty on this one was high.
Seeing that the shot went in with three-tenths of a second left, Curry ran down the court with his hand raised into the air and straight into the tunnel toward the Warriors locker room.
Curry put on a show in Brooklyn as he scored 40 points and hit seven 3-pointers to help Golden State erase a 22-point deficit and beat the Nets, 121-119, before 18,413 at Barclays Center.
By the end, just like at Madison Square Garden in a Warriors’ 114-102 win over the Knicks on Tuesday night, much of the road crowd buzzed and roared like a Warriors’ home crowd for Curry.
“Most people can make that shot, luckily,” Warriors teammate Draymond Green said. “[But] we all knew that shot was going in. It really changes the momentum. I think that’s the second time, this road trip, that he’s had one changed the momentum like that. It’s a big, big momentum shifter for us going into the locker room.”
The Warriors completed a five-game East Coast trip 4-1 with their only loss coming in Philadelphia with Butler out because of back spasms. During much of this trip, the Warriors rode Curry’s hot hand. He started the stretch in Orlando with a 56-point explosion and 12 3-pointers that was highlighted by a 56-foot running halftime-beating heave from the start of the Magic halfcourt logo in a 121-115 win.
“I just think the degree of difficulty is so crazy,” Green said of Curry’s offensive outings on this trip. “You could see a guy score 40 points and be like, ‘Man, he had a good game.’ But when you see him score 40 points, it is totally different because…he’s literally putting on a show.
“It’s like you went and watch a Cirque du Soleil or something. It is not your typical show you’re going to watch. It’s a whole bunch of different acrobatics that go into it.”
On this trip which included stops in Orlando, Philadelphia, his hometown of Charlotte, Manhattan and Brooklyn, Curry’s fans came out and made their voices heard in each arena. And Curry tried not to disappoint, averaging 34.8 points and 7.8 assists while hitting 32 3-pointers during that span. He is 11 3-pointers away from extending his record of most 3-pointers made in a career to 4,000.
“Steph just had an incredible trip, put on a show in every city,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “What he does, it’s amazing. Just the show that he puts on, the joy that he brings to so many fans who are coming to see him play in all these different cities. Every fan base loves Steph and there’s a reason he’s an incredible performer.”
This one in Brooklyn, though, required a big comeback. The Nets opened the game with a 27-5 lead. But ever since the Warriors acquired Butler, Golden State has been playing with so much confidence.
They completed their second comeback from a deficit of 20 or greater with Butler in the lineup. Before the Butler trade, the Warriors went 1-10 when trailing by 20 or more.
With Butler in the lineup, the Warriors are now 10-1 and 35-28 overall. They are in sixth place in the Western Conference standings and now three games behind fifth-place Houston. Curry has been revitalized by the addition of Butler, averaging 30.3 points on 51-44-90 shooting splits since Butler’s Warriors’ debut on Feb. 8 according to ESPN Research.
And the highlight shots just keep coming. Curry said he does not practice the turnaround 3-pointer from the logo that he hit in Brooklyn. Even he admitted he was a little surprised.
“That one, it’s not in the practice routine,” Curry said. “But you have an idea of where you are on the court and as weird as it might sound, it was kind of a rhythm shot because you don’t really have any other thought other than just try to get it off.
“It did surprise me though. That’s why I just ran to the locker room.”
Source: espn.com