Steph Curry's Greatness Remains Undiminished in Late Stages of His Career
Game 7 is a familiar scene to the Golden State Warriors in the Stephen Curry era, and just like he has whenever he’s healthy, 30 delivered once again to maintain his pristine series record against the Houston Rockets.
It was a rough first half, something not unfamiliar to Steph after a similar series years ago when he didn’t make a bucket in the first half, and still finished with 33 points to eliminate - you guessed it - the Rockets. It wasn’t quite as high-scoring of a second half for Curry this time around, but he delivered a fantastic 4th quarter to ice the game with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, 2-for-3 from three-point range.
And while it may have taken him awhile to get his shot to fall, Curry’s fingerprints were all over the rest of the night: He finished with 7 direct assists (though with plenty more that could be accredited to his gravity), limiting his turnovers to only 2 on the offensive side of the ball. On defense, he played possibly one of the most complete games of his career, recording 2 blocks, 2 steals, and 10 defensive rebounds against the NBA’s season-long top offensive rebounding team, all while holding Rockets players to 4-for-12 shooting as the primary defender. The rare struggles with his shot didn’t stop him from being the best player on the floor for the whole 46 minutes he played, his impact going even beyond his counting stats on both ends like the force of nature he is. He’d finish the series as the first Warriors player in the team’s history and oldest player in league history to lead his team in points, assists, and rebounds (as a 6’2 guard) for a playoff series.
This isn’t new territory for Steph, of course. He joined LeBron James as the only player since the 1997-98 season to record 10+ 4th quarter points in four separate Game 7s. He’s historically 4th all-time in Game 7 scoring, averaging just over 32 points per game when the lights get brightest. He became the oldest player in league history to score 20+ points in a Game 7, while also becoming the first to score 20+ points in three separate Game 7s on the road. Curry was subjected to a few brief “MVP” chants while at the line in the closing minutes of Sunday night’s bout, at the Toyota Center where he’s ended Houston’s season plenty of times before.
Steph’s greatness is an anomaly that extends far beyond just his insane shooting prowess. He’s one of the ultimate winners in the pantheon of basketball, cementing time and again that despite the narratives starting early in his career about his inability to show up in the biggest moments, he’s the kind of player who will do whatever it takes to win the game. As one of the greatest, if not the single greatest scorer ever, that’s usually what he has to do, but his gravity-induced playmaking, strong rebounding for a guard of his stature, and both commitment and toughness on defense all go underrated in the face of what he usually does to teams with the rock in his hands.
Houston made it a point to try and bottle him up throughout the series, and for good reason. The vaunted Rockets defense couldn’t stop him in single coverage, with his isolation scoring leading the entirety of the playoff field at 1.31 points per possession on 68.2% effective field goal shooting, so they threw multiple bodies at him the whole way down the stretch. It led to some great games for his teammates, including a 33-point barrage from Buddy Hield who took advantage of the Rockets selling out so often on Steph as many of his guys usually do.
It’s fitting that his dagger was a one-on-one stepback three, the most unstoppable move in his arsenal and up there with the most unstoppable moves ever, and one he’s used to put the finishing touches on Game 7s past more than once.
Sunday night had all the signature moments that a Steph Game 7 needed to remind the world just who he is and what he’s about. He’s doing all this at 37 years old, constantly setting records as the oldest player to accomplish these feats in an era where longevity is becoming more and more common. It’s clear that the addition of Jimmy Butler has given him the opportunity to prove he’s still as good as he’s always been, and that he’s still got plenty left in the tank while playing every clutch moment like it’ll be his last. The Warriors may not be the most complete team, but Curry’s greatness makes them perennial contenders when the clock is ticking to the final buzzer.
(Photo credit: NBAE / Getty Images)