Stephen Curry had another one of his “stop everything you’re doing and immediately turn on the TV” games on Tuesday, and the Golden State Warriors needed every one of his 12 3-pointers and 52 points to hold on for one of the biggest wins of their season –a 134-125 decision over the Memphis Grizzlies.
With the win, the Warriors, who came out of the All-Star break clinging to a play-in spot, have jumped Memphis for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference with six games to play. The Warriors (44-31), importantly, also clinched the season tiebreaker over the Grizzlies (44-32), and they also own the tiebreaker against Minnesota (43-32). This is a huge advantage for the Warriors with just one loss separating these three as we approach the season’s final week.
Back to Curry, who, independent of his 52 points, became the first player in NBA history to record at least 12 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals in a single game.
This was the 15th career 50-point game for Curry, 10 of which have come after the age of 30. That last number is the highest mark in NBA history, topping Wilt Chamberlain’s seven, and the 15 50-burgers eclipse Rick Barry for the most in Warriors history.
For the record, Curry’s 15 50-point games is one more than LeBron James‘ 14, and this is the fourth time he has made at least 12 3s, surpassing Klay Thompson for the most such performances in history.
Curry, who also passed Jerry West for 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list on Tuesday, got to cooking early in Memphis, hitting four 3s inside the game’s first eight minutes en route to becoming the oldest player in history to record 30 points, five rebounds and five assists in a single half. He hit three more triples in the third and it looked like his career high of 13 3s was in the crosshairs, if not Thompson’s NBA record of 14.
Curry didn’t quite get there, He missed five of his first six shots upon reentering in the fourth quarter as the game tightened and Golden State struggled to find offense anywhere else, but a relocation 3 from the left corner at the 2:55 mark stemmed an 8-2 Memphis run and the Warriors outscored the Grizzlies 13-6 the rest of the way.
Curry got some help down the stretch as Brandin Podziemski hit one of the biggest buckets of his life, a tip-in off an errant Curry 3 that honestly felt like the game-winning conversion.
Forty seconds later, Moses Moody, who is 22-4 as a starter this season, sealed it with a corner 3.
Those last two buckets are worthy of inclusion in a story about Curry going for another 50 piece because these are the guys who are going to have to step up if the Warriors are going to make postseason noise. You know what you’re going to get from Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, but can the support staff pull its weight in major moments?
All signs pointed to yes on Tuesday, and, at least for the moment, it catapulted the Warriors into a top-five seed.
Don’t look now, but if the playoffs started today, it would be Curry’s Warriors vs. LeBron’s Lakers in the 4-5 first- round matchup. Buckle up.
