PORTLAND –- Stephen Curry’s Monday was filled with questions that were beyond answering. The Warriors star hadn’t played in two weeks and hadn’t played a full game in nearly four. Yet there he was determined to take the floor in Game 4.
Who knew that Curry would take the game?
He answered all the necessary questions, and did it emphatically in leading the Warriors to a pulsating 132-125 overtime victory over the Trail Blazers Monday night that took a sellout crowd at Moda Center from hopeful to sheer dejection.
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The Warriors danced their way to the Portland airport with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to finish the best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinals with a win in Game 5 on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.
Not until 90 minutes before tipoff was it declared that Curry was available to play, even then not as a starter, and not until after he had missed his first nine 3-pointers coming off the bench did he provide evidence that he could play effectively.
Not until OT, after Curry had labored for 32 minutes, did it become abundantly clear that the man who last suited up on April 24 could summon not just his MVP best but a performance so preposterous it seemed to come from beyond this planet.
[RATTO: Curry breaks spirit of Blazers, reconfigures legend in process]
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“Takeover,” was the way forward Draymond Green described Curry’s OT magic.
Curry scored 40 points – 17 in OT, which he turned into his own personal five-minute video game.
Entering OT with the game tied 111-111, Curry scored the first 12 Warriors points, giving them lead they never lost. He shot 6-of-7 from the floor, 3-of-3 beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the line in the extra period.
If Curry’s regulation work was commendable, his OT exhibition exceeded even the most unrealistic expectations.
“The guy’s played one basketball game in three weeks,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I expected what I saw early. I expected a lot of rust. I don’t think anybody could’ve predicted the explosion. I figured he’d find his stroke and make a few shots. But, I mean, that was . . . that was crazy.”
His first 3-point attempt went from his fingers to the floor, all air. He was 6-of-18 through the first three quarters, 10-of-25 in regulation. Though his handle was solid, his shot looked as if were borrowing it from the last guy chosen at the Tinytown Y.
“I was a little anxious to get back on the floor,” Curry said. “It was a different situation, coming off the bench. So trying to keep my body loose, my mind in the game and figure out how to get a rhythm.
“Obviously, it took me a while to get into the flow. When you miss three weeks it’s really weird to walking back on the court, with the crowd going crazy and that competitive atmosphere again. I was just trying to get my bearings straight and try to make some plays, and try to get a rhythm. It took 48 minutes and things finally clicked.”
Things didn’t simply “click.” They shot off like fireworks. They seemed to serve notice that Curry could, on demand, call up the kind of magic that left observers slack-jawed and breathless.
And every bit of Curry’s production was needed. Shaun Livingston, making his sixth start in eight games for Curry, had been tossed in the second quarter after arguing a non-call and being assessed with two quick technical fouls. It was Curry or Ian Clark at the point, and though Clark gave his team 10 decent minutes only Curry can carry the team as he did.
“He put us on his shoulders from the start (of OT),” Green said. “He scored the first bucket and there was no looking back from there. He was flying around, chasing guys off screens on the defensive end as well.
“He did exactly what we needed him to do. I don’t know if you can quite expect that at this point, coming off what he just came off of, but that’s why he is who he is.”
No, this was Curry putting on a cape and astonishing anybody who knows anything about basketball – or entertainment. This was Extreme Curry, an MVP lighting up his teammates and his opponent in completely different ways.
This was a night for the ages, but a man who conceded there remains some soreness in his sprained right knee but that it’s “to be expected.”
Could Curry play? Yes. Could he play well? Heck yes. Could he play a full game? Absolutely. Could he single-handedly lift his team to victory? A most enthusiastic yes, yes, yes.