Stephen Curry was a one-man wrecking crew against the Los Angeles Clippers. He exploded for 25 points in the third quarter, and had 43 in total.
Stephen Curry was a big part of the NBA’s promotion for Chinese New Year, but he almost didn’t play against the Los Angeles Clippers. Considering it was a divisional game on ABC, it was almost unthinkable that he would miss this contest. But after three quarters, the Clippers are wishing that he did.
In the first half, Curry nailed a buzzer-beater from half-court to put the Golden State Warriors up 72-51 at the break. While that was impressive, it was only his 16th, 17th and 18th points of the game. That’s when he outscored his entire first half total by putting up 25 points in the third quarter alone. Predictably, most of them came from beyond the arc:
While 25 points is incredible on its own, ESPN’s Marc Spears put into context just how amazing Curry’s third-quarter display was. Most players would be happy if they put up this statline in an entire game!
Stephen Curry had 25 points, 5 3-pointers, four made free throws, six rebounds and three assists in the 3rd quarter versus the Clippers.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 29, 2017
And even though Warriors fans have seen this movie from Curry before, they couldn’t help but be amazed by his theatrics. This guy’s reaction pretty much says it all:
Mood in #DubNation#NBAGIF pic.twitter.com/rAUzDHXWHV
— NBA (@NBA) January 29, 2017
Of course, this display is just one of many great ones that we’ve seen from Warriors players so far. Kevin Durant’s two best games this season have come against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it’s hard to forget Klay Thompson’s 60-point game against the Indiana Pacers.
What made Curry’s MVP season last year even more incredible was that, in a lot of games, he put up big numbers through just three quarters. Seeing him drop 43, then resting in the fourth quarter, reminded us of vintage Steph.
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But the Warriors are a superteam because they have three players who are all capable of putting up this type of production through three quarters. If they keep playing like this, people won’t be making 3-1 jokes for much longer.