
Prior to Thursday's game in Minnesota, Kevin Garnett offered some high praise for Stephen Curry.
"Michael Jordan was a whole 'nother thing and this guy is his own thing," the future Hall of Famer declared. "It's beautiful for basketball and beautiful for the sport."
How did Curry respond? By dropping 46 points on Garnett's Timberwolves.
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He made 15 of his 25 shots, including 8-for-13 from 3-point territory.
[POOLE: By the numbers: Curry’s blistering start with Warriors]
He scored 21 points in the first quarter, the fourth time this season he scored at least 20 in a period. The rest of the NBA has accomplished that feat two times (Portland's C.J. McCollum and Detroit's Reggie Jackson).
"He was decent tonight. He was OK," interim head coach Luke Walton said sarcastically. "He's just so dangerous. At any time he can go on a 6-0, 8-0 run off of transition and getting a steal and pulling up for three or whatever it is. He's always in attack mode. He's definitely playing at an MVP level again right now."
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In 1988, Michael Jordan won his first MVP award. He averaged 35.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 3.2 steals per game. He shot 53.5 percent from the field, 13.2 percent from the 3-point line, and 84.1 percent from the free throw line. He was also the Defensive Player of the Year.
The following year, his scoring dipped to 32.5 points per game, but he increased his rebounds (8.0), assists (8.0), field goal percentage (53.8) and free throw percentage (85.0). And he more than doubled his 3-point percentage to 27.6.
Through 10 games last season, Curry averaged 24.8 points, 7.7 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 3.9 turnovers per game. He shot 49.1 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from deep, on 7.8 3-point attempts per game.
Curry of course won the MVP, and is playing at an even higher level this year.
Through 10 games this season, Curry is averaging 33.3 points, 5.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 3.0 turnovers per game. He is shooting 53.2 percent from the field and 47.3 percent from deep, on 11 3-point attempts per game.
"I worked hard over the summer to get better and try to be more consistent," Curry said after Thursday's win. "Do the things I did well last year, even better. And that's starting to show so that's my only motivation. I don't really need anything else."