Remembering Stephen Curry’s 30 greatest moments on his 30th birthday
16. Curry dances on Delly
Through three games of the 2015 NBA Finals, Matthew Dellavedova had become a cult hero to Cleveland Cavaliers fans and Curry doubters everywhere. His strong defense held the MVP to 22.5 points and 19.0 percent 3-point shooting through two games, and though Curry got loose late in Game 3 to end with 27 points and seven 3s, Delly’s work early had sealed Golden State’s fate.
To those who thought Curry had been exposed, however, the fairy tale came to an end. Dellavedova was reportedly rushed to the hospital due to the effort he expended in Game 3, and by Game 5, the tables had fully turned. Curry put up 37 in the contest, including a 17-point fourth in which he clearly wanted to show the world that he heard the chatter.
He capped off the night by hitting Dellavedova with two of the most disrespectful splashdowns in Finals history, sealing the game and putting the Warriors up 3-2 in the process.
15. Leonard gets lost
The Dellavedova phenomenon was short-lived, but that didn’t stop the world from thinking that Curry was containable. Kawhi Leonard had given Curry major problems during the 2014-15 season, and many believed the Warriors were lucky that San Antonio lost in Round 1. The following year, the two teams were in a race for 70 wins and the No. 1 seed, and appeared likely to face in the conference finals.
The matchup never happened. San Antonio again could not hold up its end of the bargain, but not before Curry again silenced the noise. He averaged 28.8 points against Leonard and the Spurs that year, including a 37-point clinic at Oracle in which he shook the soon-to-be back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year twice on the same play.
14. Curry jukes James
After a disappointing performance in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, the chatter returned more fervorous than ever. Not only was Curry again seen as guardable by elite guys such as LeBron James, but also by sieves such as Kevin Love. Although Curry’s sprained MCL had clearly cost him most of his lateral burst, he opted to accept the criticism, avoid making excuses and wait until the following year to prove everyone wrong.
He did just that. He followed up a magnificent Game 1 with a triple-double in Game 2, and did not miss a chance to embarrass his main adversary.
Finding himself isolated against James in the third quarter, Curry attempted to go baseline. James cut it off, but failed to force Curry to pick up his dribble. He came back to the 3-point line where he faked another baseline drive twice, got James off balance, squared back up and feigned a pull-up 3. Frozen, James watched Curry take him middle, and went all-out going for a block from behind.
Had he gotten it, the play would bring back memories of the previous year’s Game 6 for everyone involved. But Curry was quicker this year, and got the shot up before James could get there. A demon vanquished.
13. The Kyrie over Kyrie
The 2017 NBA Finals were just about over by the final minute of Game 5. The Warriors were up 126-115 in the game and 3-1 in the series. Curry had averaged 26.8 points, 9.4 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game, while the constant double-teams he drew allowed Kevin Durant to put up even crazier numbers.
There was still one more bad memory for Curry to erase, however. And that’s why he put every move he had on Kyrie Irving before sealing a title-sealing 3-pointer roughly 50 feet away from where Irving did the same to him the year before.
Had Curry missed, the Warriors were still all but guaranteed to win the game. But he made it, and his redemption tour was complete.