Two point guards who know how to put on a show will have to share the stage Saturday night when LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets duel Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Curry had 26 points and Ball 27 when the Warriors went to Charlotte and pulled out an entertaining 132-125 victory on New Year’s Eve.
Hornets forward Brandon Miller added a game-high 33 points in a losing effort.
Two of the league’s most accomplished teams in 3-point shooting didn’t disappoint in the earlier meeting. Curry went 5 of 10 as part of Golden State’s 24-of-49 (49%) performance from beyond the arc, while Ball countered with 7-for-10 but didn’t get nearly as much help as Charlotte finished 16-for-40 (40%) from deep.
Curry has netted four or more 3-pointers in 11 of his 16 games since returning from a bruised quad in early December. He rebounded from an 0-for-4 first half to go 4 of 5 from long range in Thursday’s 126-113 home victory over the New York Knicks.
The win was Golden State’s fourth in five outings at the start of an eight-game homestand.
Afterward, Curry disclosed the secret to his success — not just against the Knicks but in becoming the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers.
“Just keep shooting,” he told reporters after the game. “Try to never overthink or dwell on tough shooting situations. Especially the pressure they were trying to apply early in the game. They were all over the place defensively. So just stay with it, wear them down, get some good looks, stay confident. Try to do what I always do.”
Ball has been even more productive than Curry from beyond the arc since returning from a bruised left ankle five weeks ago. He’s gone 71 of 153 (46.4%) from deep over 15 games, a stretch in which he had eight 3-pointers in a win over Atlanta and, most recently, matching his career best of nine in 17 attempts in Thursday’s 135-117 road triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ball contributed five 3-pointers and 17 points to a 150-point explosion in a win at Utah to start the Hornets’ five-game trip. Winning two of three to start the Western swing has the 15-26 club starting to think big.
“We’re knocking on the door,” veteran Grant Williams expressed to the media in Los Angeles. “Now it’s about opening it and staying in there. We keep cracking it. Now it’s walk in and enjoy the party rather than cracking it, peeking in, and seeing if we’re allowed to come in and then stepping back outside.”
Ball, a native Californian, and Curry, who attended high school in Charlotte, have gone head-to-head just five times, with the Warriors prevailing in four of the matchups.
Neither has ever scored 30 points head-to-head against the other. That said, neither has been held below 14 in the matchup.
Giving up 13 years in age and 11 seasons in NBA experience, Ball has outscored Curry in each of the last two meetings, but just by a total of 52-47, after Curry held the upper hand in the first three duels by a total count of 68-57.
