Over the course of an 82-game NBA season, Warriors teammates Steph Curry and Brandin Podziemski have found a fun yet competitive way to keep things light.
The sharpshooters are partaking in a friendly half-court shooting competition that began at the start of the season and will continue for the six remaining regular-season contests.
And the standings are closer than some might have guessed -- as in tied.
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SIGN UP HERE "Me and Steph have shooting competitions, half-court competitions all the time," Podziemski told reporters Thursday night in Los Angeles after the Warriors' big 123-116 win over the Lakers. "We're actually tied, 24-24, right now on the half-court competition.
"Just a few shootarounds left, but I think we just try to have fun with it and understand that Steph's the best shooter that's stepped foot on Earth so to pick his brain, not only with shooting but that flow state that he gets into when he's shooting lights out like he did in Memphis, just trying to pick his brain on that and try to get in that type of rhythm yourself. I've had two good shooting games on this trip, so just continuing to lean on that."
Podziemski wowed the crowd at Crypto.com Arena after banking in a half-court shot as the shot clock expired just before halftime. But no one was as impressed as the Warriors' bench.
PODZ FROM THE LOGO TO BEAT THE BUZZER 🚨 🚨🚨
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And per usual, leading that reaction was veteran teammate Draymond Green, who got on Podziemski for passing up a buzzer-beater opportunity against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
"Him and Steph shoot half-court shots against each other every day," Green told reporters in LA postgame. "I know you'd imagine the standings is Steph [winning]. I'm not sure what their count is but BP could be possibly leading. He hits those shots very frequently. So we get in the game in San Antonio and he's at the buzzer and he threw it to Jimmy [Butler]. And we're all like, 'What're you doing? No, you have to take that shot.'
"He took it tonight and he made it. So that's why you seen everyone's reaction from the bench going crazy. And he's running off yelling, 'Get me my money,' because we shoot half-court shots when someone's late for money and he's yelling and running, 'Get me my money, get me my money.' So it was a great moment. It's good to see him make that shot. It was a huge shot. Completely shifted the momentum going into the half back to us."
Podziemski finished with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and a career-best 8 of 10 from 3-point range, with eight rebounds, six assists and one steal in 36 minutes.
After struggling early in the 2024-25 NBA season, the second-year guard appears to have turned things around. And it all starts with the good vibes behind the scenes with his star teammates.