Stephen Curry Shows Houston Why He is The MVP
The Golden State Warriors took a commanding 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals with a 115-80 win at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night.
Once again, the Warriors were led by their leader, Stephen Curry, who showed the Houston crowd why he was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season. Curry had his best game of the postseason, scoring 40 points, dishing out seven assists and grabbing five rebounds. He shot over 60 percent from the field, going 12 of 19 and a blistering 7 of 9 from three-point range. But it was his leadership and toughness in this game that showed everyone why he is the MVP.
Curry is a quiet leader that leads by example. You won’t see them being very vocal like Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala or Andrew Bogut but instead you will see a modest person with extreme confidence, leading this team to success and it was no different on Saturday night. Curry got off to a slow start, scoring only three points in the first quarter but it was awareness of every possession that put this game away early.
In the first two games of the series, the Warriors have had a huge problem committing careless and unforced turnovers, allowing the Rockets to stay in the game. Saturday night was a completely different story with Curry leading the charge, as the Warriors committed no turnovers in the first quarter. The result was a 30-18 lead after one quarter and even though, Curry was not scoring at an MVP pace, yet the Warriors were in complete control of the game. That scoring pace came a little later.
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Curry also showed his toughness in that first half with one play in particular that surprised and shocked everyone. With 5:28 left in the second quarter, Klay Thompson took a left wing jumper that came off the rim and out of nowhere, Curry got position under the hoop and proceeded to box out Rockets center, Dwight Howard. He grabbed the rebound with his left hand, got Howard in the air and drew the foul. After the play, Howard looked confused and started yelling at his teammates because he was shocked that Curry could get position and grab a rebound with him in the same area.
That play right there showed everyone what type of competitor Curry is and how much he wanted the Warriors to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
In the second half, Curry put on a show with the game already in hand. In the third quarter, he hit three left corner threes and met some hecklers in the process. Before the game, ESPN posted a video that said that a Curry left corner three is the most efficient shot in the NBA this season, even more efficient than a LeBron James dunk.
Curry has made over 67 percent from three-point range from the left corner, including a perfect 6 for 6 in this series. If you factor in the extra point from the corner, Curry’s efficiency is exactly 100 percent, James made 96 percent of his dunks. So if Curry has a corner three from the left corner, it has been automatic in this series and the hecklers found that out quickly. Those hecklers quickly became fans of Curry with one of them even offering Curry a high five that he declined.
On top of the leadership, toughness and basketball IQ that was exhibited by Curry, he set yet another NBA playoff record. Curry broke Reggie Miller’s record of 58 threes made in a postseason, finishing with 64 at the end of the night. The most staggering stat about that record is it took Miller 22 games to accomplish this feat while Curry only needed 13, thus proving that he may be the best shooter in the history of the NBA.
Curry validated Saturday night that he is the MVP of this league and next month, and he may be bringing the Finals MVP and a NBA championship back to Oakland.