In Warriors’ time of need, Steph dons cape for crucial win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
For all that Jimmy Butler III brings to the Warriors, and his impact is immeasurable, they were reminded Tuesday night that the duration of their NBA playoff run will be dictated mostly by Stephen Curry.
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Butler was superb in a 134-125 win over the always plucky Memphis Grizzlies. In playoff environment at FedExForum, he delivered an efficient 27 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. He was plus-6 over a team-high 38 minutes.
Butler was, to be clear, a fantastic co-pilot.
Curry, however, was at his cosmic best in Golden State’s most consequential game against an opponent battling them for playoff positioning. When the final buzzer sounded, Curry submitted a 52-point performance that surely was heard around the NBA.
“The guy is 37 years old,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the game. “It’s incredible. Fifty-two points, with people draped all over him, all game long. The conditioning, the skill, the audacity, the belief. It’s just incredible to watch Steph at work. I can’t believe he’s still doing this at this age, but he’s put the work in, and he’s still got it.”
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Curry moved past the late, great Jerry West into 25th place on the career scoring list. His 19 first-quarter points ensured a strong start for Golden State. His 12 3-pointers fractured the Memphis defense for his teammates. His eight assists kept them alert and active. His five steals were a pointed message to his team and to the Grizzlies. His 10 rebounds were a presentation of heart.
“You’ve got to remember to play the game when you’re sitting there watching him do stuff like that,” Moses Moody said. “He’s coming off those screens, finding any inch of space, pulling and knocking it down. That’s a special performance from a special player.”
The Warriors approached this game with the proper mentality, treating it as a playoff game – because it was in a significant way. They were, at tipoff, in sixth place in the Western Conference, right behind Memphis. The victory flipped their positions.
Curry understood the assignment. He scored only two points, shooting 0-of-7 from the field, the last time he was in his building on Dec. 19. The circumstances for this game required a profoundly different performance from the man who has been Golden State’s leader since 2012.
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“I’ll be honest: I actually forgot that fact,” said Curry, who posted his first career 50-point, 10-rebound double-double. “I was more focused on how big this game was for us.
“The intentionality that we came out with in the first quarter was just a great game plan. To understand how they guard us. I thought about their style; they try to junk up the game on defense with top-locks and try to send me into paint traffic and all that. We had a counter for that to start the game. But other than that, it was just trying to win a big game and embracing the moment.”
When Curry made his first six shots, four of which were 3-pointers, it was apparent this could be a special night.
Draymond Green, who posted his first triple-double of the 2024-25 NBA season (13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds), could only marvel at the spectacle of his longtime teammate.
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“Incredible,” Green said. “What a performance. He’s locked in, though. He had a great shootaround this morning. He was locked in. You can always see a look in his eyes when he’s focused. He wanted this one bad, and he played like it.
“It was beautiful to see. We needed it for sure.”
Curry’s 52 points came on 16-of-31 shooting from the field, including 12 of 20 from beyond the arc. His first three quarters were particularly searing, with 45 points coming on 14-of-23 and 11-of-15 shooting. Aside from Butler, Curry wasn’t getting much offensive help. Indeed, Warriors not named Curry or Butler combined for 14-of-44 shooting (31.8 percent) through three quarters.
Seeing so many shots bounce off the rim was kind of a cue for Curry. For them to be successful, he pretty much had to go into hero mode. He has gone there many times before, and he’ll need to go there many more times before taking his sneakers off for the last time.
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