Stephen Curry has built an extensive portfolio of awards, trophies, scoring records, and personal milestones during his glittering NBA Finals career. But as the star lineup settled on his virtuoso 43-point display on Friday, many were convinced they’d just witnessed the finest of all by the Golden State Warriors superstar . The 34-year-old shrugged off a sore leg to lead the Warriors to a 107-97 road win over the Boston Celtics, squaring a best seven-game series 2-2 and gaining valuable momentum to bounce back. Golden State, who hosts two of the remaining three games in San Francisco.
Klay Thompson, Curry’s “Splash Brother” co-star who’s been on the field with the Warriors star for most of his career, has no doubt Friday’s masterpiece deserves a rating.
“Probably number one,” Thompson said. “It’s almost a must-win game, and go out there and shoot as efficiently as he did, and take 10 rebounds and they’re attacking him defensively.
“His condition is second to none in this tournament.”
Warriors’ Draymond Green was similarly effective, praising Curry’s hotly competitive nature.
“Put us on his back. We’re ready to win. Get out there and show why he’s one of the best players to have ever played this game and why this organization can. led him to a lot of success,” Green said. “Absolutely unbelievable.”
Thompson said Curry was “one of the toughest, most resilient men I’ve ever played with.”
“The way the defense protected him, they kept chasing, and he kept playing. He didn’t do much. He just kept doing what he did.
“It just says a lot about his toughness and competitive nature and what it really means to be a winner.”
Curry, the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point shooting, made 7 of 14 from outside the arc on Friday in the second 40-point NBA Finals game of his career.
“Just amazed”
Meanwhile, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has expressed concern about Curry’s physical condition.
“It was amazing,” Kerr said afterward. “The physicality out there is pretty impressive. I mean, Boston has the best defense in the league.
“Big and strong in every position, and for Steph to embrace that – that kind of pressure lasts all game and is still able to defend at the other end when they come in…
“I think this is the strongest physical he’s ever had in his career and it allows him to do what he’s doing.”
Stars across the NBA lined up to praise Curry on Friday.
“The chef is crazy!!!”, LeBron James wrote on Twitter, alluding to Curry by his popular nickname. Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid said simply: “THIS IS AWESOME.”
Curry meanwhile declined to comment on where he ranks senior Friday in his collection of signature performances.
“I don’t rate my performances,” he said. “Just win the game.
“It means everyone knows the sense of urgency we must have tonight to win the road and keep some lives in the series, regain the home advantage and try to build momentum under our way.”
Green, meanwhile, says he can feel Curry quietly preparing for a great performance in the days since the Warriors’ triple loss in Boston on Wednesday.
“He didn’t let us lose. That’s what it does,” Green said.
“You hear all the noise for a day or so, and I could tell from his demeanor for the last few days, even after game three, that he was going to show up with that kind of fire.
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“And he did, and we can all watch it.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
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