SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry lay prone on the floor in the fourth quarter Tuesday night looking up at the big scoreboard above midcourt, pointing at the sky in celebration. He had just sank a 3-pointer, but Curry wasn’t done yet.
Patrick Beverley fouled him in midair and he hit the hardwood. No harm, but yes foul. As Curry got up off the floor, he had to count ‘em. First the index finger, then the middle finger, the ring finger and the pinkie. Four-point play for the four-time champ.
Steph didn’t bust out his patented Night Night celebration, but it would have been appropriate. His bucket and free throw capped off a quick, nine-point, 46-second Curry flurry and put the Dubs up by 17 over the Lakers with 3:14 to play. Golden State would go on to win 123-109 on ring night, as it celebrated the 2022 title run with a pre-game ceremony while LeBron James had to wait some extra time in the locker room.
Steph Curry could not be stopped ‼️
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 19, 2022
33 PTS for the reigning Finals MVP in the dub pic.twitter.com/fYEGySW73B
The possession before that? Steph put Anthony Davis in a blender with a spin and a shot fake, then laid it off the backboard and in.
The possession before that? Steph splashed a 3-pointer. So, yeah, he still has that magic in Year 14.
It marked Dub Nation's first time seeing Steph in a meaningful matchup since Game 5 of the NBA Finals, before the boys went back to Boston and won it all in Game 6. Curry got showered with "M-V-P!" chants from the crowd Tuesday night during the ring ceremony.
The Dubs want to get their hands on another one. Seeing that sparkle gave Steph some more motivation for a fifth championship.
“That’s why we play,” Curry said. “Nobody’s gonna be sitting there and staring at that ring, like, ‘Oh, it’s over.’ I don’t think anybody’s built like that.”
If you can somehow have a quiet 33 points, Curry did it Tuesday night. He didn’t splash his first 3-pointer until the 5:24 mark of the third quarter, but also finished with seven assists and six rebounds.
It might have been a sloppy opening game for both sides – the two teams combined for 39 turnovers on the night – but Warriors coach Steve Kerr is never gonna complain about a ‘W.’ Especially when he gets some hardware for his overflowing trophy case.
If Tuesday night was any indication, the Lakers look like they could be headed toward a long, discombobulated season.
“I’m thrilled with the win,” Kerr said. “Ring night is never an easy game.”
Not to mention, Curry became the first player in franchise history to start his 14th season with Golden State, surpassing Chris Mullin’s 13 years.
We already know about the stars, but what about the young bench?
If the Warriors do go on to march to a title repeat and their fifth in nine seasons, you’d have to think their second unit led by 20-somethings will have a lot to do with it. On Monday night, James Wiseman (16 minutes), Jonathan Kuminga (13 minutes) and Moses Moody (7 minutes) were all a bit limited by the 11-man rotation. Wiseman had the biggest impact with eight points, seven rebounds and a block.
It marked Wiseman’s first contest in 556 days but he showed some decent chemistry with Jordan Poole. That pick-and-roll duo could be causing havoc in Western Conference for years.
“He’s really talented and he works hard,” Poole said. “It’ll only take a matter of time before we really start to dominate that two-man game.”
When looking at the makeup of this roster, it could be the deepest group Kerr has had since he arrived. Kerr and Curry said they see some similarities between this year’s squad and his inaugural season with Golden State in 2014-15, which featured vets like Andrew Bogut, David Lee and Shaun Livingston. Though there’s more youth on this team, Curry clearly is a fan of the depth.
“Yeah, there’s a vibe of that,” Curry said of the comparison to the 14-15 squad. “You have 11 guys that probably deserve the opportunity to play and are going to be key for us to be the team that we want to be throughout the regular season, and then identify what the best rotation is come playoff time."
Free-agent JaMychal Green knocked down a couple 3-pointers in his eight-point, seven-rebound debut and looks to be a solid replacement for Otto Porter Jr. Donte DiVincenzo turned the ball over four times to just two assists, but figures to be a valuable two-way addition off the bench with playmaking ability.
There's still 81 more games to figure things out before another playoff push. Warriors didn’t have to be at the top of their game against the Lakers, but Curry knows that the vibe of ring night will be gone by the time they step back on the floor for Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
“After tonight, the journey really begins because you know you’re gonna get everybody’s best shot,” Curry said. “We got some really talented teams that are going to be gunning for us, so we got to be ready for it all. But it’s gonna be a very long journey.”
