The Golden State Warriors had a stretch of games earlier this season in which they lost seven of eight. With Stephen Curry missing a good majority of those, they slipped in the Western Conference rankings.
Thankfully, they’re climbing back into playoff contention. But, it’s more likely that they’ll have to get into the playoffs by winning the play-in tournament first. When that happens, they’ll be a dangerous opponent.
Teams really shouldn’t want to face the Golden State Warriors in the postseason this season, and Stephen Curry’s recent stretch of play is why.
Earlier in the season, Stephen Curry needed some help to win games. Either Andrew Wiggins or Kelly Oubre Jr. had to step up to take some pressure off the two-time MVP. Over Curry’s last nine-game stretch, he’s tossed that aside.
Curry has gone out and won games single-handedly.
Over the team’s last nine (prior to these past nine games was that embarrassing 53-point loss in which Curry didn’t play against the Raptors), the Warriors are 6-3. In that stretch, Curry is averaging 41.3 points per game.
He’s also snagged the top spot in the NBA in terms of points per game scoring which puts him in place to snag his second scoring title. While it feels unlikely, if that happens, there’s no denying he should be the league’s MVP.
This nine-game stretch is why you do not want to play Golden State.
The best part about it is that it hasn’t been against the worst defensive teams in the NBA. Curry went into Philadelphia and dropped 49. The game before that he was in Boston and dropped 47. Those aren’t necessarily easy situations to thrive in.
Curry has put the team on his back, and while the Warriors still aren’t among the top contenders in the West, if he’s going to be this hot in the postseason, they’ll put up a good battle against teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers.
Three of Curry’s fifth worst-performing nights were against either of those teams. They’ll be difficult to dominate, but at the pace that he’s playing with right now, it may not matter what’s being thrown at him.
Curry’s truly cemented himself as the NBA’s best player, and hopefully, this stretch of play will be enough for him to earn his third MVP award.