Steph Curry Poised for Big Game With Warriors’ Playoff Seeding on the Line UPDATE: Steph Scores 46
By Peter Dewey
UPDATE: Steph Curry led the Warriors to a 113-101 win and the No. 8 seed with a 46-point performance on Sunday. Curry played 40 minutes and shot 16-for-36 from the field and 9-for-22 from 3. He went over his projected 35.5 points. What follows is the original report from pregame.
Memphis has dodged Steph Curry this season, but it won’t be so fortunate on Sunday afternoon. Curry, who missed the Golden State Warriors’ first two matchups against the Memphis Grizzlies, will get his first crack at Ja Morant and company on Sunday.
There is a ton of intrigue in the final day of the regular season, and Curry’s Warriors are playing for the No. 8 seed. The team that earns the No. 8 spot will get two chances to win one game to make the final playoff field. The No. 9 seed would need to knock off the No. 10 and the loser of the No. 7 against No. 8 game in order to get into the playoffs.
With so much on the line, it only seems right that Curry, the NBA’s leading scorer, would explode for a big game this afternoon. WynnBET has Steph’s player prop projection for points set at 35.5 with the over (-116) slightly favored to the under (-104).
Since Steph has yet to face Memphis this season, we don’t have much to go off of in terms of previous performances. However, Curry has surpassed the 35-point mark in four of his last six games, and he is averaging 35.4 points per game this month.
Curry was held out of the Warriors’ last game since it didn’t have any bearing on their playoff seeding, but he has been particularly good the day after missing a game this season.
Steph scored 37 points after missing the Warriors’ loss to Charlotte back in February, and he has two other 30-plus point performances (32 against the Chicago Bulls on March 29 and 37 points against the Atlanta Hawks on April 4) after missing the previous game.
The extra rest and the importance of the game could lead to Curry playing more minutes, and he’s already been taking 24.9 shots per game this month.
If Steph puts up a clunker, the Warriors are looking at the No. 9 seed, but he’s been so good this season that I’m not going to start betting against him now. Curry is a borderline MVP candidate, and he’s been on fire since April with 14 games over 35 points. Expect him to pick up No. 15 today.