SAN FRANCISCO – Steve Kerr said he didn’t think it would take long for Steph Curry to find his groove again.
Sure, Steph returned for Game 1 of the Warriors’ first-round matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. But on Monday night, he looked like he was officially back, back.
In a vintage game with his decade-long Dub Dynasty teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, Steph erupted for a game-high 34 points in just 23 minutes off the bench. Curry reigned supreme in the 126-106 victory over the Nuggets as the Warriors pushed their series lead to 2-0.
"Just starting to find a rhythm," Curry said. "First game, missing that much time, coming off the bench, trying to get used to the speed of the game again. Somewhat impactful the first game, but I didn't really feel normal like we had the real flow. The first half (tonight) I had a little pep in my step, body felt good. I was able to get to some spots. You make certain shots and it feels a little different, feels a little bit normal and more emotion comes out. Especially with that layoff, it was a nice feeling."
The game featured a bevy of ooh-and-ahh moments, but Curry’s last bucket of the night really finished his evening with an exclamation point. He turned it into garbage time with 4:49 left, knocking down a 3-pointer after shaking Aaron Gordon with a step back.
Curry missed a month after spraining ligaments in his left foot on March 16 and was limited to just 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting in Game 1. Curry made a host of twisting drives, converted a 4-point play, went 5-of-10 from 3-point land and 12-of-17 from the field. In short – it was a classic Curry performance.
The Curry-Thompson-Green combo accounted for 18 straight points for the Warriors’ offense at one point in the third quarter and turned back the clock to the 2010s. Close your eyes and you mighta thought you were at Oracle Arena at certain points of the game.
"He just kept driving and I think that broke their defense down," Green said. "Once he did that, now, you've got him into the paint kicking out and flting back off for threes. That's when Steph Curry is at his most dangerous off the ball. I thought the way he came in and settled our offense down -- I mean that's what you expect of Steph Curry -- but I thought that was huge. Like I said, to be +32 in 23 minutes, it doesn't get much better than that."
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That might be the scary thing for Denver -- Steph is still on a minutes restriction and hasn't been fully unleashed yet. This is just the third full game that Curry/Thompson/Green played together this season. Curry conceded that he's still experiencing discomfort in his left ankle/foot area, but that it's something he'll just have to play through.
A lot of NBA superstars wouldn't be happy coming off the bench -- health-dictated minutes restriction or not -- but that was never a problem for Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
"Steph is Steph," Kerr said. "Humble off the floor, arrogant on the floor. It's a great combination. ... Gregg Popovich likes to talk about the importance of getting over yourself if you want to be on a great team, if you want to be part of something special. Steph, it's just the way he was raised. He didn't even have to get over himself. He was already over himself when he arrived in the NBA."
Steph said the decision to come off the bench was an easy one.
"It helps that I've been through it a couple times and had to make that deision where, like, 'What's really important?,'" Curry said. "Is it about starting and then just having that moment where you get your name called and is that really that important? Or can you think about he big picture of, again, like when you're forced into a minutes restriction, it kind of makes that decision a little easier. ... Obviously, I want to be out there in the closing lineup in big moments of games."
Jordan Poole also kept up his hot start to the postseason by pouring in 29 points. Thompson added 21, while Andrew Wiggins scored 13 and Green had six points, six assists and three rebounds.
"It's huge," Kerr said. "We've been hoping to get to this point all year where we could get our whole group together just to see what that would look like."
