Maybe it was a statement game. Maybe it was just another game against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Whatever the reason, Stephen Curry went off again on Thursday to the tune of 45 points on 17-of-23 shooting from the field – including eight-of-13 from the arc – to go with two rebounds and 10 assists. It marked the first time Curry has had at least 40 points and 10 assists together in a single game. More importantly, he managed to break his own record for made 3-pointers in a single season of 272. He now has 276 on the season with three games still on deck.
Since Lillard joined the Blazers in the 2012-2013 season, Curry has averaged 31.9 points and 7.8 assists against them in 10 games. He has also hit 48-of-91 3 pointers in that span, good for an incredible 52.7 percent.
With the Warriors having clinched homecourt throughout the playoffs, they no longer have much of a purpose left for the regular season other than to stay sharp heading into the playoffs. The one thing left to secure is Curry’s candidacy as an MVP, and games like this will certainly help his cause.
Twitter, as usual, was happy to react in Curry’s favor:
He always does this to the Blazers! It be worst at they spot
— Jordan Crawford (@jcraw55) April 10, 2015
Watching the Steph Curry take over right now. Kid is unbelievable. — Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) April 10, 2015
MVP
— Seth Curry (@sdotcurry) April 10, 2015
This guy… — Ian Mahinmi (@ianmahinmi) April 10, 2015
Steph Curry = #MVP. This dude just broke his own @NBA record for most 3s in a season. Congrats @StephenCurry30. #DubNation
— Jason Collins (@jasoncollins98) April 10, 2015
Amazing to see what Steph can do in the 4th qtr when he actually has to play in the 4th qtr….19 pts on 7-7 shooting — Tom Tolbert (@byronjr23) April 10, 2015
And Steph aint believe me when I told him we were gonna combine for 45 tonight… MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
— James Michael McAdoo (@jamesmcadoo) April 10, 2015
Another great show tonight from the MVP @StephenCurry30 great win tonight #dubnation @OracleArena was crazyyyy once again !!!! — Marreese Speights (@Mospeights16) April 10, 2015
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.