Warriors' Steph Curry re-writing NBA Finals narrative
OAKLAND – There are the numbers relating to Stephen Curry and the question of whether he has ever played well in the NBA Finals, and then there’s the narrative. And as is almost always the case in these types of situations, there’s not much room for nuance.
Long before his best all-around Finals performance on Sunday night, when the back-to-back MVP tallied his first playoff triple-double in 72 tries as his Golden State Warriors went up 2-0 in these Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the question of Curry and whether his Finals play was sufficient for a star of his caliber had been raised.
We were talking about it in 2015, when he averaged 26 points, six assists and 5.2 rebounds per game en route to winning it all yet saw Andre Iguodala take home Finals MVP honors because of the role he played in slowing LeBron James. The topic was front and center again in 2016, with Curry battling left knee soreness while being outplayed by Kyrie Irving and alternating between his best self (30-plus points in Game 4 and 6) and his worst (his 17-point, six-of-19 shooting, four-turnover outing in Game 7).
But when the question was posed to Warriors coach Steve Kerr after his team’s 132-113 win, this after he saw Curry finish with 32 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, the 51-year-old made it quite clear where he stands on the matter.
“Whose narrative is that?” he asked the reporter.
“I just made it up,” came the lighthearted response.
“Oh, okay,” Kerr said. “Well, write your story and email it to me and I'll critique it.”
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Two more of these, and Curry just might silence this subplot.
“Well, he just generates so much force to the game,” Kerr explained of Curry’s impact. “Even when he's not making shots, he's bringing defenders all the way out to the perimeter, which opens up so much. He pushes the ball relentlessly, and obviously he got going there in the third after a poor first half. But he changes the game, just by being himself and being out there and attacking.”
If the first two games are any indication, the Warriors’ Kevin Durant is well on his way to being the Finals MVP. After all, he’s averaging 35.5 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists 2.5 blocks, 1.5 steals and just 1.5 turnovers per game in the early going of these Finals.
But Curry is playing like the game-changing star that we’ve come to know these past few years, showcasing his aggressive style on offense and being enough of a pest on defense to help frustrate Irving thus far (21.5 points per game on 40% shooting overall; 4.5 assists and 3.5 turnovers per game). His Finals plus-minus rating, as it turns out, even surpasses that of Durant’s (plus-41 compared to plus-37).
“Yeah, I'm playing with a lot of energy, that's the biggest thing,” Curry said. “Trying to be aggressive every opportunity I have. I think there's another level that I can get to. (He) talked about with the first question tonight about just being smart with the ball, so there is another level to get to, but just trying to be aggressive and enjoy this moment, man, just playing in The Finals and the journey is unbelievable. I want to keep it going…This is The Finals, and every game is important.”
Curry knows this all too well, of course. Next up: Game 3 in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Follow Paste BN Sports' Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick.