SAN FRANCISCO — Trying to explain Steph Curry’s greatness can be futile.
To merely describe the game-winning plays he makes wouldn’t do it justice. How do you quantify the way he can electrify the entire building? The way he can get his teammates believing? The way he can flip the energy of the game with a flick of his wrist?
In Saturday night’s thrilling 125-116 overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Curry carried the Warriors on his back for a much needed victory that reeked of desperation.
“30’s great. One of the best players to ever play this game,” Draymond Green said. “To watch him and the way he’s come back from injury and the way he willed us tonight to a win was huge. … It was just very impressive the way he willed us. He hit shot after shot.”
The Warriors awoke Saturday morning as the West’s No. 7 seed, in position for the dreaded play-in tournament. Back in The Bay following a deflating 0-3 road trip, facing a Giannis-free Bucks squad, the Warriors were in must-win mode.
We’ve seen him hit game-winning shots and go on one-man runs to save the Dubs in the past, but Saturday night he pulled a new trick out of his bag: a block.
With the final seconds of regulation ticking off the clock, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday blew by Donte DiVincenzo on a drive and was seeing red. Holiday had a clear path to the rim, then Steph came on the help defense and elevated, swatting the ball in the lane. That right hand has been made famous for splashing 3s but it was responsible for another type of highlight Saturday.
“It gives everybody a good boost because it’s shocking,” Curry said with a smile. “I think I got more compliments about that in the locker room than any shot I made tonight, which speaks for itself.”
What made Saturday’s win so satisfying is that the Warriors trailed by 8 with two minutes remaining. They finished the game on an 11-3 run, capped off by a game-tying 3-pointer from Curry with 19 seconds left, which eventually sent the game to overtime.
“Just willing us to victory with his shotmaking and his penetration,” Klay Thompson said. “Never ceases to amaze me with what he can do with the ball in his hands. That stepback to force OT and then the stop at the other end just shows how great of a basketball player he really is.”
Curry kept rolling in extra time, as he animated the crowd once again with his trifecta with 2:04 remaining. Steph gave that ‘Don’t let me finish this thing’ type of stare that he’s sported a few times the past few years. With the Warriors up by 7 at that point, it was all but over.
Steph said there was no extra message behind his mean mug for the camera. He was just tired as he played more than 43 minutes.
“I was exhausted,” Curry said. “Slow walk to the bench, take advantage of the full three-minute timeout. Don’t yell, because that requires oxygen. That was literally it. Obviously there’s reactions to the game and you feel good about yourself. There was a certain toughness and grit that we showed. That was the facial expression, but I was just tired.”
Curry finished with 36 points as he maintains his great production since returning from an 11-game absence with a leg injury. He went 13-of-27 from the field and 6-of-15 from 3-point land along with six rebounds, four assists, two steals – and, of course – a blocked shot. Twenty of his points came in the final seven minutes of the game.
In his four games since returning, Steph is averaging 33 points and 6.3 3-pointers per game while shooting 48.1 percent from beyond the arc.
“It’s fun to watch. Super fun to watch. Sometimes I’m looking at the shots and I’m, like, ‘There’s no way,’ and they don’t even touch the rim. Every time it leaves his hand I think it’s good.”
There’s no way they win this game without Steph on Saturday. His skill is legendary, but he’s definitely got that dog in him too. The Dubs are going to need it to have any chance at repeating this season, let alone avoid the play-in tourney and finish in the top six.
“Championship stuff,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of the closing effort. “That’s the team that has won four titles. They know how to do it. They got it done tonight probably the best team in the league. I know they didn’t have Giannis, but still a hell of a team without him.”
