Steph Curry puts on a show
It has been a fantastic season thus far for fans of the Philadelphia 76ers, as they have watched their team dominate on most nights. Many expected that to be the case again on Monday evening when the 76ers hosted the Golden State Warriors at Wells Fargo Center, but things didn’t exactly go according to plan on a historic night for Steph Curry.
Philadelphia entered the contest as heavy favourites, but Curry was looking to do something special by becoming the first player in NBA history age 33 or older to score 30 or more points in 11 straight games. Curry put up 49 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter as the Warriors downed the76ers 107-96. Curry broke Kobe Bryant’s record set back in December 2002, when he scored 30 or more points in 10 straight games.
“I’ve seen Kobe Bryant early in his career, had a stretch where he went nuts,” Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr said after the game, via ESPN. “Obviously, Michael Jordan had some stretches where he just scored like crazy, but obviously nobody’s ever shot the ball like this in the history of the game. Even by Steph’s own lofty standards, this is above and beyond.”
Curry became the Warriors’ all-time leading scorer last week when he surpassed Wilt Chamberlain. He has spent his entire 12-year NBA career with Golden State, being drafted by the organization seventh overall in the 2009 NBA Draft.
“From Wilt’s [record] last week and then this streak, I’m obviously aware,” Curry said, via ESPN. “But you don’t put too much pressure on yourself, you just play basketball. … Being aggressive, obviously, but kind of letting the game come to you. For me, that looks a certain type of way, but I’m having a blast out there just playing basketball and it’s obviously working.”
Curry could not be stopped from beyond the arc on Monday night, as the 76ers struggled to cover him. He went 10-17 from three-point range and has not scored a combined total of 54 three-pointers over the past six games. His coach could barely believe it when talking to media after the game.
“Twenty-one career games with 10 or more 3s,” Kerr said, almost not believing the words coming out of his mouth. “And Klay [Thompson] is second with five. And Steph’s had four in the last five [games]. Mind-boggling. Mind-boggling stuff.”
His teammates have also taken notice of Curry’s form as the club fights to get back into the playoff picture. They currently sit in 9th place in the Western Conference but have won five of their last six games as they look to finish the season strong.
“The things he can do on the court — it’s special. He’s one of a kind,” Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins said of Curry, via ESPN. “When I was on a different team, you could see it from afar, you could see what he’s doing. You could see all the creative things he’s doing, but being on his team is totally different, totally different watching it in person, every day, every game. The dominance of his presence on and off the ball is crazy.”
Despite the loss, the 76ers remain in first place in the Eastern Conference with a stellar 39-18 record. They will look to rebound from Monday’s loss when they host the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
