Stephen Curry's theatrics carry Warriors past Pelicans in gritty Game 1

 

OAKLAND, Calif. – Stephen Curry raced to the basket with fellow NBA Most Valuable Player candidate Anthony Davis on his heels. The Golden State Warriors guard gave up seven inches and a mammoth wingspan to Davis, but despite being mauled on the shot attempt, Curry somehow made a reverse layup high off the glass.

With the yellow-clad crowd raining down "M-V-P" chants, Curry flexed and basked in one of several needed moments from him during the Warriors' 106-99 Game 1 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.

“I couldn't believe the ball went in,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It didn't look like from my angle it was going to go in. I thought Steph was trying to put it off the glass, so the ball just seemed to drop out of the sky right through the hoop. One of those plays that very few people can make, but Steph seems to do it pretty often."

Curry sat out 17 fourth quarters during Warriors’ blowouts in their NBA-best and franchise-record 67-win season. Having a deep, talented and unselfish team allowed that to happen. The Houston Rockets have a less-glamorous roster and an injury-plagued Dwight Howard, which allowed fellow NBA MVP candidate James Harden to have many more firework moments this season that might have swayed votes.

But when the Warriors have needed a big basket or a spark, Curry always seems to find a way make his presence known with a pretty play or two that ends up being replayed over and over and over. Game 1 of this playoff series was no different as Curry finished with a team-high 34 points and delivered several key plays to keep Davis and the Pelicans away.

“Whenever you're on the floor, just try to make an impact,” Curry said.

The Warriors got off to a fast start and finished the first quarter with a 15-point lead thanks to 11 points from Curry. Golden State opened up the second quarter with Curry on the bench and by the time he returned to action with 6:18 left in the second, the Warriors were only up 40-31.

With Curry in the rest of the half, the Warriors went on a 19-10 run to take a 59-41 halftime lead. Curry had a game-high 19 points at halftime on 8-of-15 shooting from the field despite missing five 3-pointers. His circus basket over a fouling Davis is the signature play of this young postseason.

“I got contact, and I was able to get the ball to my left hand,” Curry said. “At that point, it's not so much luck, but just try to get it on the backboard any way you can, and hopefully it falls in. I turned around and it went in. So it was a fun little play, and I'm glad I executed it.”

With Curry out in the fourth quarter, the Pelicans chopped a deficit as big as 25 down to 11 points with 9:48 remaining.

But again, Curry calmed nervous Warriors fans by nailing a 3-pointer with 8:55 to push Golden State back up 87-73. Forty-one seconds later, the unimposing 6-foot-3, 190-pounder set a brilliant screen to free up fellow All-Star teammate Klay Thompson for a 3-pointer to lift the Warriors to a 90-73 lead.

"[Curry is] a great player," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "Obviously, when he comes into the game, you've got to pay more attention to him.”

The gritty, young Pelicans challenged again by cutting their deficit down from as many as 25 to 10 points, 95-85, with 2:59 left in the game. And Curry responded with a reverse lay-in.

The Pelicans kept fighting with time running down, whittling the deficit down to four points with 9.7 seconds late. But Curry again came to the rescue, locking up Game 1 with a free throw with 6.2 seconds left.

“I was locked in and focused the whole night,” Curry said “In those situations you obviously want to get the crowd back into it and there is a weird kind of tension. Especially in the second half is when they made a couple runs. But in the playoffs, you've got to expect anything.”

Curry made 13 of 25 shots and had five assists, but was also 4 of 13 from behind the arc and uncharacteristically missed three free throws. He said he can’t remember the last time he missed three charity stripe attempts and had he been on it could have been a 40-point-plus night or possibly 50. Williams believes New Orleans could be at an advantage by letting Curry “score 70 points” offensively.

Down 1-0 in this first-round series with starting point guard Tyreke Evans also questionable due to a serious knee injury, that plan could be dangerous for Williams since the Warriors always turn to their reliable leader when in peril.

“You're not going to stop Steph,” Williams said. “He's going to miss shots. You can take some things away from him. But like I said, he's a great player."