Golden State Warriors 10 best moments from Game 1

Steph Curry blows past Kevin Love

It’s hard to imagine that Stephen Curry, the league’s first unanimous MVP, didn’t think about Game 7 of the NBA Finals a lot over the past year. He’s made it clear that he still thinks about that errant behind-the-back pass he threw. He probably also replayed Kyrie Irving’s fourth quarter shot in his mind quite a bit as well.

Kevin Love, most likely, occupied some space in Curry’s head. The world has not forgotten how Love, a poor defender, didn’t let Curry save the game, the series, and the season with time winding down in the fourth quarter. Curry probably hasn’t either.

That play came down to two things: health and situation. Curry was searching for the three and Love knew it. It’s not hard to defend a guy when you know what he wants. Love conceded everything inside the three-point line, but Curry didn’t want it.

There were also many who denied the effects of Curry’s knee injury. It was clear that he wasn’t himself. His inability to shake off lumbering bigs made that obvious. Still, there were the deniers.

In the first half, Love switched out onto Curry at the top of the key and, well…it didn’t end well for the power forward.

I don’t mean to surprise you guys, but Steph Curry might be pretty good. In fact, Kevin Love might not be able to guard him if he has a healthy knee. Weird, right?

Curry probably thought about doing this for a year. Sometimes he doesn’t isolate when he should. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by though.

Curry immediately attacked Love and finished at the rim, flashing his quickness and touch around the rim. In addition to being a sound offensive strategy, going after Love was a personal thing. It’s not revenge, yet, but it’s the first step in getting there.