Steph appreciates battles against OKC after closing out another big win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Stephen Curry is already known for his incredible skills on the basketball court, and he has been known to demonstrate his athletic prowess on the golf course several times.
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After all, Curry was brilliant as a closer for Golden State on Sunday in Oklahoma City. The two-time NBA MVP scored eight of his season-high 36 points in the fourth quarter and made multiple key plays down the stretch to help the Warriors hand the Thunder their first loss at home in the season in a 127-116 victory at the Paycom Center.
It’s not that Curry hasn’t done it before, especially in OKC. He’s had a history of crushing the spirit of Thunder fans for years and it was just the latest chapter in his book of favorite places to play.
“I like it,” Curry said on NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Warriors Postgame Live” after Sunday’s win. “The only thing that’s good is that, over the course of many years, there were only a couple of years where we and OKC weren’t very relevant in the Western Conference. But overall, there has always been a battle and hard work here. So you look forward to it. It’s great energy, the fans are great, their team is great.
“And obviously it’s great to get a win.”
For what seems like the umpteenth time in his illustrious NBA career, Curry tore apart the Thunder like a block of cheese. He scored a season-high 36 points in 36 minutes and had seven assists with five rebounds.
Curry would have had more if one of the referees hadn’t called a flagrant foul against the Thunder after the Warriors sharpshooter hit one of the seven 3-pointers he made.
“Steph was unbelievable,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Great pace. The impact he had with his passing — even when he wasn’t throwing shots, he would drag defenders with him and that opened up the whole offense.”
On a night where Golden State got big scoring games from Jonathan Kuminga and DeAnthony Melton, it was easily evident that Curry is still the man driving the Warriors’ car.
Just like that, Golden State went from a team that many believed would struggle to qualify for the play-in game to one that is now viewed as a serious contender in the Western Conference.
That his latest heroics came against the Thunder is certainly no surprise. Before Sunday, Curry had a 26.7 scoring average in 46 career games against Oklahoma City, his third-highest mark against any NBA team.
This also might have been one of the toughest Thunder teams Curry has ever faced, even though OKC lost its starting center, Chet Holmgren, to an injury early in the game.
Before that, the Thunder were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. They had a collective defensive rating of 97.3 and had only allowed one player to score more than 25 points against them this season.
Until Curry came to town.
Curry and the Warriors played so well early on that Kerr hoped he could give his point guard some extra rest in the fourth quarter. Those plans had to be scrapped after the Thunder cut a 30-point lead to 114-108.
After a dunk by Jonathan Kuminga, Curry helped force a turnover and then ran to the opposite end of the court, faked Lugentz Dort and then hit a sidestep 3-pointer with 2 minutes left, Curry also scored a pair of free throws with 53 seconds left to help seal the deal.
“It looked like it was going to be a night where we could keep it under 30 minutes again, and then obviously OKC made that big run to start the fourth,” Kerr said. “Steph did a great job coming back and shutting it down when it got a little dangerous.”
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