AL SARACEVIC
King Curry gets back on his court; long may he rain
When Stephen Curry checked into the game with 4:20 left in the first quarter, the crowd at Oracle Arena roared.
They hadn’t seen the man play in five weeks, and they wanted to give him a hearty welcome.
Eleven seconds later, when he curled around a screen, took a pass and hit a threepointer on his first shot, the place went into rapture.
King Curry was back. Long may he rain.
“That was a special moment when Steph checked into the game,” said head coach Steve
Kerr. “I loved the ovation he got.”
Indeed, that was the moment to remember in Game 2 of these Western Conference playoffs between the Warriors and Pelicans. It was a hardfought contest, with plenty of plot twists, chippy moments and lead changes before the Warriors prevailed 121-116. But it was the return of Curry that everyone wanted to see. And what a sight to behold. Like most transcendent superstars, Curry rose to the moment, scoring 28 points. He clearly adores playing this game, and his pure joy and creativity shone through as soon as he returned to the court. He pushed the ball upcourt, found teammates with nifty passes, moved beautifully without the ball and let’s not forget that shot. That beautiful, silky shot. When Curry flicks it from long-range, it appears effortless.
But it’s not. The man puts in endless hours working on every conceivable shot, hoisting hundreds a day, but also finds time to perfect his sublime handle. It all comes together at game time, like a finely tuned machine. It would be safe to say we haven’t seen anyone with such a balletic game since “Pistol” Pete Maravich roamed the hardwood 40 years ago.
And, boy, did we miss it. “Tonight, it was huge. It was a good feeling. The crowd went crazy,” said Curry, who was dying to get out there and could be seen fidgeting on the bench at the start. “It was an eternity, it felt like, for sure. I had to kind of pace myself. Seems like it took forever (to get in).”
It’s been a tough five weeks for Curry since he sprained his MCL. As he put it the other day, “Doubtful. Questionable. Probable. Learned a lot about what those words mean this year. It feels good to be back, actually playing basketball.”
The Pelicans weren’t too happy to see him. It’s a talented team, anchored by their own All-World star, Anthony Davis. The hulking center swatted a few of Curry’s floating raindrops around the basket, reminding the two-time MVP that he’s only 6-foot-3. That stuff don’t fly in Mr. Davis’ neighborhood.
Curry also spent a good portion of the night collecting floor burns, skidding and sliding around like he often does, taking abuse but bouncing up every time.
Fans didn’t enjoy that. Every time Curry hit the court, you could hear the air suck out of the arena as the crowd held its breath, willing their favorite to get up and answer the bell. In this, his first game back, Curry was able to do that, over and over. We’ll see how his banged up body — which suffered an ankle injury just before his knee went bad — will hold up under the regular pounding of the NBA playoffs.
But that’s fodder for another day. Let’s get back to this memorable return, reminiscent of the playoff game in 2016 when Curry came back from a similar knee injury and dropped 40 points on the Portland Trail Blazers, including a remarkable 17 in overtime.
Tuesday night’s performance wasn’t quite that dramatic, but it had its moments. Head coach Steve Kerr chose to keep Curry out of the starting lineup, leaving in Nick Young instead. That equation held true for the start of both halves, with Curry playing reduced minutes (27) on the night.
But when he was in, he made the difference. In the most shocking stat of the night, Curry was a plus-26 for the game, meaning his team outscored New Orleans by 26 points when he was on the floor. No one else was better than plus-7.
“It was a good night to happen,” Kerr said. “Perfect timing, when he came in. Everything changed as soon as he walked on the floor.”
When Curry came in with 7:22 left in the third quarter, the game was tied at 65. The Pelicans went up three, and then Curry delivered again, hitting a three from the top of the circle to tie things back up.
Seconds later, the chant of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” went up from the crowd as Curry sank two free throws to give his team the lead.
As the quarter came to a close, the score still tight, Curry pushed the ball upcourt, pulled up from about 30 feet and calmly drained a crucial three. He had 25 points at that point, on his way to finishing with 28 for the evening on 8-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-10 from three.
But the Warriors only led by two after three quarters, and the result was in question throughout. These Pelicans might not be fully matured right now, but the Warriors should see plenty of them in the future as the franchise continues to build around the 25-year-old Davis.
Before that day comes, this is still Curry’s world. And the Pelicans are merely visiting.
The man of the night returned to the game for the last time with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors clinging to a 101-98 lead. In a little over a minute and a half, the Warriors grew that to a 12-point margin. With just under two minutes left, Curry hit a dagger three to give the Warriors an insurmountable 13-point lead.
The king was back. Long live the king.