If you went to bed early on Sunday night, then odds are you woke on Monday to the news that Stephen Curry dropped a career-high 62 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 137-122 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Curry, 32, became the second-oldest player to score at least 60 points in a game, behind only Kobe Bryant, who was 37 when he scored 60 points in the final game of his career versus the Utah Jazz on April 13, 2016. Curry finished by shooting 18-of-31 from the field, including 8-of-16 from 3-point range.
The two-time NBA MVP had struggled at times to shoot this season, converting on just 32.1% from beyond the arc prior to Sunday. The performance reminded everyone that, despite missing most of last season with a hand injury, he still is very much every bit of a future Hall of Fame player.
He heard the noise, and made note of it heading into Sunday.
Cue the Jordan meme: ‘I took all of that personally.’ It was just an opportunity to kinda assert my will in the game early and try to create some energy and get off to the right foot. It sounds crazy after the game, all we really wanted to do was win the first quarter and take it from there. Obviously, that’s what we did and continued the momentum.
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The career night garnered plenty of buzz across social media and even throughout the Warriors’ locker room. After the game, Warriors rookie James Wiseman, who recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, marveled at Curry’s performance, even comparing it to playing with the Warriors on NBA 2K.
It’s crazy. It reminded me of 2K because I used to play with Steph all the time and drop 60, so actually watching it in person was phenomenal. He’s a legend so watching it in person was great. … He was making like every shot within 10 seconds and we couldn’t even keep up. We were over there just cheering him on but then we looked at the scoreboard and he already had like 55 so it was kinda crazy. I was like, ‘Man, he’s going to get 60!’
Curry propelled the Warriors to return to .500 with the win, improving to 3-3 on the season with the performance. He proved that he can still channel “Chef Curry” at any time on the court, and it was a night that many won’t soon forget.
Steve Kerr jokingly was going to toss the game ball to rookie James Wiseman for his first double-double, "pump faked" as Stephen Curry put it, then gave it to the most deserving recipient after the two-time MVP's career-high 62 points.
— Janie McCauley (@JanieMcCAP) January 4, 2021
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