2015 NBA scores: Stephen Curry returns, leads Warriors to road win over Wizards

Golden State’s star proved why he’s the MVP, and Rajon Rondo and Rick Carlisle got into a shouting match.

Feb 25, 2015, 1:00 PM UTC

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen Curry was forced to sit out the Golden State Warriors road game against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday due to a sore right ankle. Without its star and starting point guard on the court, Golden State -- owners of the NBA's second best offensive rating (109.6) -- shot just 38 percent from the field and fell to the lowly Pacers, 104-98.

On Tuesday, Curry returned to the floor for the Warriors' matchup against the Washington Wizards on the road. With his ankle apparently no longer bothering him, the Warriors point guard proceeded to dribble around and through a strong Wizards defense. He had 32 points and eight assists, despite going up against John Wall. Perhaps most impressively, Curry didn't turn the ball over once. He also helped chase Wall on the defensive end of the court, where Golden State forced 26 turnovers from Washington. The Warriors shot 50 percent on the night and the result was a 114-107 win.

That the Warriors’ offense suddenly clicked back into gear as soon as Curry stepped back onto the court is no coincidence. This has been the case all season. Yeah, Golden State is a great team with a good coach and talented players, but Curry is the one that makes everything go.

When he's on the court the Warriors score 116 points per 100 possessions. When he's not on the court the number falls to 104 (per 82Games.com). The team's defense improves when Curry plays, too. Golden State is holding opponents to 100 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor and allowing 104 when he's not.

It's easy to point at all the other changes that have been made in Golden State and single them out as the reasons the team has been nearly unbeatable this year. Steve Kerr getting the offense to move the ball. Klay Thompson learning how to put the ball on the floor. Draymond Green's emergence as one of the better two-way players in the league. And all of that has made a difference.

But it all starts with the Curry. The MVP race isn’t done yet, but it’s going to take something drastic to have another player emerge as more deserving of the honor than Curry. Curry’s the best player on the league’s best team, a stud who makes everyone around him better and transforms the team into a great one. With him, the Warriors are championship contenders. Without him, they’re a group that struggles when playing the Pacers.

3 other things we learned

This whole Rajon Rondo in Dallas thing isn't going very well. Rondo and Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle got into a bit of a yelling match on Tuesday. It happened in the third quarter. Carlisle tried getting Rondo to call a play, Rondo ignored him. Carlisle called a timeout and yelled at Rondo, Rondo decided to yell back. He then was kept on the bench for the final 20 minutes of the Mavericks' 99-92 home win over the Toronto Raptors. This could have just been two competitive men getting caught up in the moment, but it did appear to have deeper roots. Definitely something worth monitoring going forward.

LeBron James is the greatest passing forward of all time. At least statistically he is. In the second quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers' Tuesday game against the Detroit Pistons, James recorded his 6,136th career assist, moving him past Scottie Pippen on the all-time assists list (fittingly, the pass was a behind-the-back one that led to a three-pointer). LeBron has now thrown more assists than any non-guard in NBA history, but caveats do exist. If you count Oscar Robertson (sixth all time in assists with 9,887) or Reggie Theus (24th, 6,453) as forwards, LeBron would still have a ways to go. And of course there's Magic Johnson, who might have been a "point guard" but is also 6'9. He's fifth on the all-time assists list with 10,141 career dimes. But all of that's secondary stuff. What's crazy here is that LeBron, at the age of 30, is already in this conversation, despite primarily being a scorer. This milestone is just the latest example of how special and unique a player James is.

Russell Westbrook is a machine. Westbrook continued his torrid pace Tuesday night, going for 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists while playing just 28 minutes in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 105-92 home victory over the Pacers, the team's seventh straight win. Once again Westbrook was able to lead the Thunder to a win despite not having Kevin Durant in the lineup -- something, as Jason Patt detailed here, he's been able to do all year. The Thunder are now 10-5 in games where Westbrook plays and Durant doesn't. In those games Westbrook is averaging 30.8 points, 8.5 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. Oklahoma City is 32-35, two-and-a-half games ahead of New Orleans for the eighth seed in the West. There is still a long way to go, but if the Thunder manage to make the playoffs this year, Westbrook will be the reason why.

Play of the Night

We touched on Curry up above, but here’s another example of how ridiculous he is. What’s crazy is that he might be the best ball-handler in the NBA -- and yet, dribbling a basketball is not even his strongest skill. What he’s able to do on a court is just insane.