Steph Curry is on his way to finally being Finals MVP

Don’t let Game 1’s insane ending distract you from the fact that Steph Curry is on his way to finally becoming a Finals MVP.

A lot happened on Thursday night as the 2018 NBA Finals kicked off in Oracle Arena. LeBron James was otherworldly, posting 51 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. J.R. Smith forgot the score of the game with less than five seconds left in regulation and dribbled out the clock despite the score being tied. Tristan Thompson got ejected for doing something, presumably, although it’s unclear what exactly that something was.

Hidden among all the drama was Steph Curry leading his Golden State Warriors to victory with a strong opening performance against LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Curry managed a team-high 29 points on just 23 shots, and his passing was even more impressive than his scoring early on.

At one point Steph had eight assists and no turnovers, and he ended the game with nine dimes and two turnovers. He also posted six rebounds and a steal in his 46 minutes of play, while making five of his 11 3-point attempts.

Three of those 29 points came with the Warriors down by two points with less than 30 seconds left on the clock, as Curry drove to the rim and got fouled. Predictably, the 90.3 percent foul shooter connected on the free throw to give Golden State a one-point lead, which led to a big Warriors win in overtime.

Big 3s and beautiful passes defined most of the rest of Curry’s evening. In a game that was tightly contested until overtime, Curry was often the one matching LeBron’s huge moments for the Warriors. Multiple times in the second half, LeBron would nail a 3-pointer or complete an emphatic dunk, quieting the Oracle crowd and making it seem as though the Cavs were ready to pull away.

Curry refused to let that happen. A LeBron 3 in the third quarter put Cleveland up three, giving the Cavaliers their first lead of the second half. Less than 15 seconds later, Curry snatched it away with a trey of his own. His late-game and-one was another LeBron counter, as just moments earlier LeBron had a lay-up of his own to give Cleveland that two-point lead.

Matching LeBron’s actual scoring output is unlikely for Steph, just based on the way the Warriors operate. There’s no telling how many points he would put up if he used as many scoring possessions as LeBron does, but that’s less of a knock on either player than it is a realization of both of their situations. LeBron has to do that. Curry does not.

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Both teams’ identities revolve around usage, with the Cavaliers trying to get every last drop of basketball out of LeBron without completely exhausting him and the Warriors working to spread the ball as much as they can without costing Curry too many possessions.

Even as he defers to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, Curry still has a way of sparking Golden State’s biggest moments. That was certainly the case in Game 1, and if he continues to lead this team against the force that is LeBron James then Curry should be in line to finally get a Finals MVP award under his belt.