It took 20:45 of game time for Stephen Curry to score his first points against the Sacramento Kings on Monday. That bucket -- a crossover, step-back three against poor Darren Collison with 3:15 left in the second -- opened the flood gates. Curry went off, scoring 17 points on five made three-point shots in the final 3:15 of the quarter as he traded buckets with Omri Casspi of the Kings, who stayed close for one half before succumbing to the NBA champs in a 122-103 Warriors' win.
NBA scores 2015: The Stephen Curry show never ends
Curry gets his first triple-double of the season, Chris Paul is a point God and everything else from Monday in the NBA.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Curry wasn’t only scoring. He had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as he notched his first triple-double of the season -- doing so before the third quarter was even over.
Nothing should be a surprise with Curry anymore. He constantly impresses, giving highlight reels ammunition night after night. No play was more impressive than one sequence in his 17-point stretch in which he never stopped running -- he makes a finger roll, gets back on defense just in time to contest his brother Seth Curry’s shot and runs back on the court to grab the loose-ball rebound ... before chucking a 27-footer. It’s exhausting to watch.
Stephen Curry is RUINING basketball … by making it too much fun to watch. (via @NBAOnDefPen) https://t.co/VMWFKCFnji pic.twitter.com/AoXhof07FY
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) December 29, 2015 Plus, he shares the ball almost as well as anyone in the league. Draymond Green -- who was superb in his own right with 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists -- is considered the heart of the Warriors with his brash attitude and loud voice, but Curry is clearly a big emotional leader, too. His hustle and selflessness are contagious.
The Kings, to their credit, made it a game through two quarters. Casspi ended up with a career-high of 36 points with nine threes, but the Kings became the 33rd team in a row to lose in Oakland.
You think there’s never something new to say about these Warriors and that even though they’re putting up absurd numbers it’s the same old story. Then Curry scores 17 points in 3:15 and puts up a triple-double.
SB Nation presents: Stephen Curry is literally a video game
3 other things we learned
Chris Paul can still outplay elite point guards.
John Wall put up a slightly better stat line with 23 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, but Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers were too much for the Washington Wizards on Monday in a dominant 108-91 win. Paul had 23 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but only needed 27 minutes compared to the 36 Wall played. He put on a clinic, making ridiculous pass after ridiculous pass:
Paul is once again having a great season, scoring 17.7 points and dishing out nine assists with only 2.6 turnovers per game. He's shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 37 percent from deep. DeAndre Jordan was a major target against the Wizards, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. The Clippers never trailed and had a double-digit lead for the final 37 minutes. After a three-game losing streak leading into Christmas, the Clippers have won three in a row.
Even when Paul George struggles, the Indiana Pacers have the tools to win.
George had only nine points on 3-of-14 shooting to go along with five points and three assists in the Pacers' 93-87 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Monta Ellis picked up the slack with 26 points and Solomon Hill was superb off the bench with 10 points and some phenomenal defense -- he had two big steals that led to big buckets for the Pacers. The Pacers do have the roster to win even when George is off, but he clearly makes the Pacers go.
George averaged 29.5 points per game in November on 47.7 percent shooting form the field and 49.5 percent shooting from deep. But he has struggled throughout all of November, putting up only 21.5 points per game while shooting 36.9 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from deep. The Pacers have struggled, too, going 7-7 in the month after a 11-2 month in November. The win against the Hawks proved they can win when George struggles, but if the Pacers want to contend in the East, George needs to return to form.
The Bulls are stepping up in games that matter.
The Chicago Bulls had only three players come off the bench, but they turned out to be three of the best players on the court as the Bulls beat the Toronto Raptors behind 51 bench points from Tony Snell, Bobby Portis and Aaron Brooks. They did it on 20-of-37 shooting as Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol had great nights even though Jimmy Butler struggled. This wasn't a game that screamed, "The Bulls have figured things out," but it was a good sign as Chicago beat another solid team after taking out the Thunder on Christmas Day. Plus, they might have found a lineup that can do some damage. Taj Gibson, Portis, Butler, Snell and Brooks were the most effective against the Raptors. They played shutdown defense while getting Snell caught fire from deep, hitting 4-of-5 from three-point range. Rose and Gasol are going to be playing down the stretch, but Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg should take notes of what his bench can do.
Play of the night
The Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves behind the play of ... Boban Marjanovic? The fan favorite went 7-for-7 from the floor on his way to 17 points in 14 minutes. The big man from Serbia is averaging only six minutes per game for the Spurs, but he's proven to be a solid bench player on a team that is rich with depth.
4 fun things
Scores
Pacers 93, Hawks 87 (Indy Cornrows recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)
Clippers 108, Wizards 91 (Clips Nation recap | Bullets Forever recap)
Hornets 108, Lakers 98 (At the Hive recap | Silver Screen and Roll recap)
Nets 111, Heat 105 (Nets Daily recap | Hot Hot Hoops recap)
Bulls 104, Raptors 97 (Blog a Bull recap | Raptors HQ recap)
Mavericks 103, Bucks 93 (Mavs Moneyball recap | Brew Hoop recap)
Spurs 101, Timberwolves 95 (Pounding the Rock recap | Canis Hoopus recap)
Cavaliers 101, Suns 97 (Fear the Sword recap | Bright Side of the Sun recap)
Jazz 95, 76ers 91 (SLC Dunk recap | Liberty Ballers recap)
Warriors 122, Kings 103 (Golden State of Mind recap | Sactown Royalty recap)
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