Golden State Warriors: 3 best-case scenarios from a chaotic season

Scenario No. 1 for the Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry goes supernova

Stephen Curry dropped 53 points against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, in the process passing Wilt Chamberlain and becoming the franchise’s leading scorer. It was the latest in an all-out tear for Curry recently, as he has returned from a bruised tailbone to drop 30 or more points in seven-straight games. He is closing quickly on Bradley Beal for the scoring title, averaging 30.4 points per game to Beal’s 31 flat.

What is Curry doesn’t cool off, but continues this hot streak through the rest of the season? That’s certainly not unthinkable; nothing about his shooting right now is overly fluky, and he can have as many shots as he wants for a Warriors team that desperately needs the offense.

With Curry averaging 38 per game, the Warriors are able to score enough to hang with anyone on a given night. They continue to beat the bad teams and lose to the elite, and a manageable schedule down the stretch breaks the right way for them, including three games remaining against the shamelessly tanking Oklahoma City Thunder. A game-72 explosion against the Memphis Grizzlies secures the scoring title for Curry.

From there Curry shoots them past the New Orleans Pelicans in the first play-in game, with Curry dropping 50 overcome Zion Williamson’s 40, and then 56 to beat out Damian Lillard’s 49 to make the playoffs in the eighth-spot. They face the Utah Jazz in the first round and exploit the obvious weaknesses of even a great team. The Warriors run Rudy Gobert through pick-and-rolls 25 feet from the basket and he struggles to contain Curry, and the Jazz’ reliance on 3-pointers turns in a handful of cold-shooting nights. An improbable Game 7 is forced when Andrew Wiggins scores 42 in Game 6, and then the Jazz shoot 6-29 from deep in the finale as Curry’s 48-9-8 sends the Warriors to the second round.

Their journey ends in the second round against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, but Curry goes out in a blaze of glory, averaging 42 for the series. At season’s end, he finishes second in MVP-voting behind Joel Embiid. After filming another season of that wacky golf show he came up with, he and a healthy Klay Thompson are back next season to return to the top.