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Stephen Curry is one of the best shooters in NBA history, and like all greats, it is must-watch TV when he gets hot. The most recent offensive explosion for the Golden State Warriors All-Star came against the Houston Rockets on Monday night, when he went off for 21 points in the fourth quarter.
After the Warriors beat the Rockets 122-108, mainly because of Curry’s scoring in the fourth in a close game, the video surfaced of Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr., trash-talking Curry. That trash-talking might have led to Curry kicking into gear, scoring over half of his 40 points in the fourth.
On ESPN's "NBA Today" on Tuesday, there was a discussion of players to whom foes should not trash talk due to what that might inspire them to do. Former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick put Curry at the top of his list, saying:
“Number one for me is Steph Curry. Like all great players, they have to manufacture slights and injustices to get themselves going, and this is what makes them great. Steph Curry checks his Twitter account at halftime to look for comments to get him going. Why would you talk trash to him? … He is a ticking time bomb ready to explode anytime.”
More often than not, a great player will get his numbers no matter what. The Rockets were only down by five points with nine minutes left, and then Curry took the game personally as Golden State won by 14 points.
Will we see MVP Stephen Curry again after this?
For Stephen Curry, this season has been bizarre. He started looking like the MVP of the league again as the Warriors were the best team in the NBA. He is now posting career lows in both field-goal and 3-point percentage. This could be the first year Curry does not shoot over 40% from 3 and 45% from the field.
The absence of Draymond Green has likely played a role in his slump, but an increase of taking 3s could also be at fault. Curry is taking 12.6 3-pointers per game, shooting 38%, which is a wild number, even though he did shoot 12.7 last season.
The most significant difference is that Curry was making 42% of those 3s, leading the NBA in scoring with 32.0 points per game last season, while he is at 26 ppg this season.
By taking the most 3-pointers of his career, he is also missing the most. If those do not fall, the issue is that it leads to long rebounds and opposing teams getting quickly into transition. Curry is still the best shooter in NBA history, so whenever he takes a shot, there can’t really be a frustration with his shot selection.
That then brings up the dilemma. If Curry is shooting poorly, should he still take that many 3-point shots? It is a pretty easy yes. His threat of shooting alone scares defenses, and even though he is cold right now, this won’t last forever. The game against the Rockets is precisely why he should keep taking 3-pointers, because, at any moment, he can, like Redick said, explode.
Curry shot 3-for-7 from beyond the arc through the first three quarters, then went 4-for-7 in the fourth. It really doesn’t matter how bad he is shooting the ball because the threat of him just exploding is always there.
Guess the Lakers players!
