OAKLAND, Calif. -- After the doubt they inspired with a Game 1 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors gave anxious fans a 118-91 reason to relax Wednesday in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. That long stretch of calm was brought by a sudden eruption of fury. A feisty Stephen Curry rained fire faster than box scores should be reasonably expected to accurately track. In the middle of the third quarter, in the span of two minutes, he ended what had been a competitive game.
Before all that, Kevin Durant continued to elude Golden State’s defense the way he’s done for, well, his entire career. Durant finally had the rare, inefficient shooting game in Game 1, only to snap his slump with a closing dagger to the Warriors’ sternum. A poor shooting performance likely presaged a formidable bounce-back game from Durant, and the Warriors didn’t help their cause by giving him back-to-back open 3-pointers at the start of the second. Durant will hit those. He’s quite reliable, actually.
With 7:10 remaining in the third quarter, Durant was having a significantly better game than Curry, having poured in 23 points on 13 shots to Curry’s 11 points on nine shots. Two minutes later, Curry, with 26 points on 13 shots, had the 2014 MVP one-upped. Curry had not scored since the first quarter, and had been managing the game slowly, deferentially, working through Oklahoma City’s traps and switches.
First, there was an open 3 off a screen. Then Durant fouled Curry on a corner trey and incurred a technical foul for his protestations (four points). After that, Curry pump-faked Serge Ibaka in the air and fired another triple as his gaze lingered on the out-of-position big man. Next, he fired up a foot-on-the-line 2. Finally, to close, a deep leaner off a Draymond Green screen. Before this happened, the Warriors had been leading by 10. In under two minutes, they were running with a 20-point blowout. Curry finished with 28 points on 9-for-15 shooting.
One of a few unique aspects to Curry’s game is that he warps the game itself. He puts life on fast-forward as everyone’s attention is drawn to him. Another team can steadily build something, over time, that he knocks over like sandcastles.
Oklahoma City let this one get away and likely will bring more focus to the Curry assignment at home. The Thunder will have to. A few lapses are fatal when a man can score so quickly.
