Golden State Warriors celebrity Stephen Curry gather a classic performance that had head coach Steve Kerr raving afterward,”He’s never played .”
It wasn’t enough to get past Luka Doncic along with the Dallas Mavericks.
The reduction didn’t stop Kerr or even Doncic from gushing about Curry, who dominated throughout the match, finishing 19-for-31 in the area and 11-for-19 from outside the arc in 37 minutes.
“Sublime,” Kerr said. “It was absurd that the shots he had been hitting. The degree of difficulty. The simplicity with which he made them. He’s never played . We’re talking about a two-time MVP, three-time winner — I have never seen him like that. He only looks so strong to me. He’s always obviously been an incredible shooter, but he looks more powerful to me, only getting by people, fending off them on drives to the rim, completing. And of course the shotmaking is almost unfathomable what he’s doing out there.”
Doncic placed on a show himself, moving 12-for-23 from the field and 7-for-12 from heavy in the success, but the young guard was in awe of the operation Curry put on while hitting shots from all over the floor.
“Every time he shot the ball, I thought it was going in,” Doncic stated in a postgame interview with ESPN.
Curry, who two months ago passed Reggie Miller for moment on the all-time 3-pointers-made list, proceeds piling up shooting numbers. Saturday’s performance was the 40th time in Curry’s 12-year livelihood that he had at least 40 points in a game and the eighth time he had at least 50 points in a game.
After knocking down a 3-pointer while standing near the Mavericks’ emblem at midcourt, Curry, who scored 30 points in the first half, broke his famous shimmy, a celebratory move which has stamped a number of the biggest moments in his career. He also added five assists, two rebounds and 2 steals on a night when the Mavericks repeatedly drove additional defenders his strategy to attempt to slow his momentum.
When asked about Kerr’s assessment that he’s playing the best basketball of his career, Curry reiterated that he believes his body is in a great spot as he copes with more defenders every evening. He said he feels he can handle the extra bodies coming his way this year.
“I feel powerful,” Curry said. “I feel as though I got a fantastic rhythm, and obviously coming off of last year I am just enjoying being out there and being healthy, so unquestionably feel in control of my game, learning together with my team as we continue to attempt to get better and build some momentum this year. It’s kind of a weird year. I’m playing well, and we are getting better as a team — just we got to get those wins stacked up and we could all feel just a tiny bit better about ourselves.”
“I really don’t know if there is a harder guy to play in basketball right now than Steph Curry,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Because of all of the various ways he affects the game and simply his uncanny ability to make shots from everywhere on the floor. It’s easy to get discouraged when a man’s making 30-foot shots in mind and all that sort of stuff, and our men just hung in and discovered a way to win it”
Warriors guard and close buddy of Curry’s, Kent Bazemore, was unique in his praise after Curry’s 57-point performance.
“Best player in basketball right now,” Bazemore said. “It is unreal. Brad Wanamaker and I had been on the seat just cracking up at precisely how, first of all, blessed we are to see that, and then two, how it’s so effortless. … When you’re in the heat of it and a guy has no conscience, just pull from 40 feet, it’s amazing. It is wonderful. You got to be there.”
Curry has said he feels like every shot he takes will go in, but on nights like those when most of his shots actually do move in, he knows that it’s hard for any team to prevent him.
“It feels great,” Curry said. “Especially when, based on when the defense is protecting there, there were some hard looks, but for the most part I was able to see where the help was coming out, and where the displays were coming from, and get to my own spots. So that always is a fantastic feeling when you feel like you’re in a rhythm and you just need a clean look and things are going to fall. But you are also able to stay aggressive and never get taken out of the rhythm. Therefore it was that kind of night, and clearly wanted for the win. It is kind of mixed feelings at this time.”