Stephen Curry missed 11 games after suffering a nasty right ankle sprain on Dec. 4, so it wouldn’t have been too far off for him to have had some rust in his first game back from injury. But the two-time MVP showed exactly why he’s one of the best basketball players on the planet when he lit the Grizzlies up for 38 points on 13-of-17 shooting in Golden State’s 141-128 shellacking of Memphis Saturday night.
NBA scores 2017: Stephen Curry made 10 threes in his first game back from injury
If you thought Steph would be a bit rusty, you thought of-so wrong.
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Curry shot an unconscious 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from beyond the arc. And on one play, he made a practice dummy out of Marc Gasol, who had no business checking him so far from the paint.
Where does Curry’s shooting night stack up in NBA history?
Making 10 threes in a game is tough enough, but shooting them at the clip Curry did Saturday night is even tougher.
Ty Lawson holds the highest three-point percentage of any player ever to make 10 or more triples, making 10 of his 11 attempts (90.9 percent) back in 2009. Curry shot 11-of-13 from downtown against the Knicks back in 2013.
In total, 10 or more threes have been made at a shooting percentage higher than 70 exactly 16 times in NBA history, according to Basketball Reference. Curry has done it six of those 16 times.
Donovan Mitchell is for real
If you had any doubts whether Mitchell legitimately belongs in the Rookie of the Year conversation, his performance against LeBron James and the Cavaliers should have sold you.
The Jazz combo guard finished with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting, along with six assists, four rebounds and three steals in Utah’s 104-101 win over the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs on Saturday.
On one instance, he made Dwyane Wade actually look old:
On another, he showcased the freakish athleticism that makes him a special player for his size and stature:
And down the stretch, Mitchell showed the necessary poise to deliver a huge bucket for the Jazz:
Mitchell is averaging 18.2 points per game on the season, and even though the Jazz are firmly outside of the Western Conference playoff race (at least for now), their future with a young stud in the back court looks bright.
Kristaps Porzingis outscored the Pelicans when it mattered
Other things that happened
Saturday’s NBA scores
Knicks 105, Pelicans 103
Hawks 104, Trail Blazers 89
Jazz 104, Cavaliers 101
Warriors 141, Grizzlies 128
Donovan Mitchell has been a steal for the Jazz
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