Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors may be having a better season than either of his MVP seasons.
The Golden State Warriors won a thrilling, back-and-forth game against the Boston Celtics, which may have been a possible NBA Finals preview. The Warriors won this game because of one name — Stephen Curry.
Curry was outstanding on Saturday night, scoring a season-high 49 points with eight three-pointers and committing just one turnover. He most especially made his presence known in the fourth quarter, where he scored 13 of the Warriors’ last 15 points and demoralized the Celtics.
Historically, the Celtics have always given Curry and the Warriors problems due to their physical defensive play and outstanding coaching. None of those things mattered on Saturday night as Curry dominated and carved up whoever took the challenge of guarding him.
The Celtics have not been the first team that Curry has completely demoralized. In fact, since Curry came back from his ankle injury, he has been on a league-wide rampage.
In his last 12 games, Curry is scoring over 31 points, shooting a scintillating 55 percent from the field and over 50 percent from three-point range. Those numbers are ridiculous and comparable to his second MVP season in 2015-16. You can make the case that this season may be the best of his career. He’s not averaging as many points or shooting as well, but his composure and confidence have been off the charts.
Curry’s composure starts and ends with his turnovers. In years past, Curry struggled going for the “homerun pass” instead making the simple one. This season been a completely different story.
You rarely see Curry commit stupid turnovers with the exception of the last Houston game. His turnovers per game are at their lowest since 2011-2012, a season that was riddled with injuries.
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His incredible decision-making has seemingly improved due to one big reason: He has eliminated forced, one-handed cross court passes into traffic. In year four of Steve Kerr‘s motion offense, Curry has never been this comfortable and is thriving as a result.
Last season, he deferred a lot to Kevin Durant. As a result, some critics called last season a “down year”, suggesting that we had seen the best of Curry in the 2015-16 MVP season. His scoring average dipped from 30.1 to 25.3 points per game. 25 points per game is nothing to scoff at but with his incredible season in the prior year, critics wondered if this would become a pattern.
This season, Curry is deferring to no one, playing with that same fire he had in 2016. That fire ignited against the the best defensive team in basketball (the Celtics0, and he absolutely cooked them.
The Celtics did not have Marcus Smart, who happens to be one of their better defenders and a guy that gives Curry fits. But on a night like Saturday night, can anyone check Curry? Draymond Green does not think so and would think the same goes for the rest of the league.
Draymond Green asked about the absence of Marcus Smart playing a role in Steph Curry's big night, scoffs at it: "I've never seen anyone lock Steph down" pic.twitter.com/gnyhfrILZt
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 28, 2018
The number one debate this season has centered around whether Durant has passed LeBron James as the best player in the NBA. This is a solid debate because when Curry was out due to injury, Durant was absolutely carrying this team. His overall game was incredible, leading the Warriors in every facet of the game, including outplaying James on Christmas Day.
The Warriors were winning games without Curry, but they were not the same Warriors. They failed to reach their scoring average of 116 in 11 of the 13 games Curry missed recently. The flow was missing too.
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This happened because of all the extra attention put on the remaining all-stars, Durant, Green and Klay Thompson, making it more difficult to get open looks. This caused more forced shots and a more disjointed offense.
With Curry in the lineup, everyone flourishes because the opponent’s defensive main focus is to stop Curry and his three-point shot.
The opponents constantly grab Curry, making it more difficult to get open looks and disrupting his rhythm. But due to his unselfishness and movement without the ball, he finds a way to get his fair share of uncontested jumpers. These tactics are employed in the half-court.
Transition is a whole different story because he is unguardable. He is most lethal after gathering long rebounds and attacking a scattered defense. The Warriors’ spacing is so good that it is almost automatic that the team gets a good look. He is incredible in transition and is getting to the foul line more than he ever has.
So maybe the debate now should be: Is Durant even the best player on his team? Can Durant be the best overall player if his teammate is the most unstoppable offensive force this league has ever seen?
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The answer to both of these questions are No and the best is yet to come from Curry. His scoring, decision-making, confidence and overall basketball I.Q. have all contributed to his best season of his career. Hopefully the experts see this and award him with his third MVP in four years.