Stephen Curry had been quiet early in Game 3 on Sunday. He had just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting in the first half of Game 3 against the Rockets, and he was 1-of-7 from downtown and, at that point, just 3-of-20 from deep for the entire series.
Stephen Curry is back and the Warriors are at full strength. Take cover.
Curry exploded for 35 points in Golden State’s Game 3 beatdown of Houston. If he’s back for real, the Rockets (and everyone else) should be on alert.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
It looked like another lukewarm game early on for Curry, the two-time MVP who missed over a month’s worth of gameplay with an MCL sprain only to rehab through the first round of the playoffs and gather his bearings in the second.
And then the third quarter came, and Chef Curry came alive
After that first half, Curry scored 18 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting in the third quarter alone, coming alive to help the Warriors sustain a 21-point lead heading into the fourth. He’d finish the night with 35 points, scoring 26 in the second half. It was a steady progression, starting from the inside the working his way out, but eventually, the Steph Curry we’ve grown to love showed his face in Game 3, helping propel them to a 126-85 win.
Curry couldn’t get many threes to drop early on, so he did most of his work off the dribble in the paint. That’s usually how it goes for a shooter who’s gone cold: Get a few easy baskets to see the ball go in, then work your way into the tougher ones.
Curry scored on a beautiful and-one basket to open the third quarter. But he didn’t do most of his damage until midway through the third. First, it was a gorgeous reverse layup down the middle of the lane. This was the moment you knew he was heating up.
Then he danced all over James Harden before hitting him with a trademark stepback three from the top of the key. It was sweet payback against Harden, the leader of a Rockets offense that had singled Curry out as a weak defender virtually every game of this series. It was also a signal, like a bat in the sky: Curry was back.
He even broke out his trademark shimmy.
Curry’s highlights didn’t end. He shot 10-of-11 in the second half. He continued to score against the Rocket defense in a multitude of ways, and he did so through the fourth quarter, too. Curry continued to go at Harden, as if to issue a reminder: I might not be the greatest defender in the world, but you aren’t either.
Stephen Curry is back, and the Warriors are better for it
The Warriors looked relatively lax early into Game 3. They exploded for a 21-point lead in the third quarter, but it wasn’t until Curry came alive midway through the period that Golden State started to look like the championship contender we’ve expected them to be.
Golden State can win games without Curry. They proved that in the regular season, in the first round and in parts of the second. But this team is a completely different animal when Curry is shooting well. They’re more exciting, obviously, but every Warriors teammate feeds off his energy, and so does that rowdy Oracle Arena crowd.
Game 3 was Steph Curry’s welcome home party. He scored more in that game than he did in Games 1 and 2 combined. And if that’s what the Warriors, the Rockets and the rest of the NBA can expect through the rest of the playoffs, then the remaining teams in the Warriors’ path should watch their backs.
Curry was in a slump, and at least for one game, he shot his way out of it. Golden State is a Goliath when he has these types of nights. And right about now, there’s no David in sight.
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