Heading into Sunday night's game between the Warriors and Sacramento Kings, much was made of the first-ever matchup between two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry and Kings defensive dynamo Davion Mitchell. It lived up to the billing, as both guards played well in Golden State's 119-107 win at Golden 1 Center.
Curry posted a double-double, scoring a game-high 27 points on 9-of-23 shooting from the field to go along with 10 assists. Impressive in his own right, Mitchell scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting off the bench and also added four dimes.
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The two were matched up head-to-head on several occasions throughout the game, and Mitchell held up as well as could be expected of any rookie. But whereas Curry was expecting Mitchell's defensive tenacity, he was surprised by the offensive capabilities of the No. 9 overall draft pick.
"All that hype about his defense, the man was an offensive assassin tonight," Curry told reporters after the win. "I wasn't sure he had that in that tank. But he has, again, a knack for on-ball presence and, obviously, the way we play, you've got to do both, so I'm sure he felt a little bit of that. But, just the confidence of a guy coming in -- it's his third game in the league -- he has a lot of room to grow, but you can tell he has all the tools in the kit to be a defensive stopper. Just a pest out there, in the best of ways."
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All things considered, it was a very strong performance by the Kings' rookie, who was up for the challenge. Of course, as good as Mitchell was defensively, Curry got the best of him in a couple of instances.
Don't worry about that, Davion. He does that to a lot of people.
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