He’s not going to bring home a third straight MVP trophy at the NBA’s first annual awards ceremony later this June, but Steph Curry has continually outplayed those being considered for the award late this season.
As first pointed out by Twitter user @droomexperts, during this Warriors nine-game winning streak, Curry has torn through Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and now on Wednesday in San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard — and all three of these games were on the road.
Curry’s stats against the trio of stars: 28.0 ppg, 8.0 apg, 5.3 rebounds, 47.5 field goal percentage, 14-for-31 (45.1 percent) from 3.
Let’s start in reverse chronological order, where Curry put the Spurs in a blender while critical positioning in the standings was on the line. Forget the 3-point bombs for a second: Curry is executing all the little things right now. He went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in San Antonio, dished out 11 assists and continues to play aggressive defense (second straight game with 5 fouls). You can tell when he isn’t thinking on the court. Right now is one of those times.
Kawhi? His supposed expanded offensive game was muted by Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson. He somehow managed 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting, but besides a hot start, Kawhi’s impact on the game was minimal. Not an MVP type of performance. Not at all. Can he really be counted on as a 25 points per game guy in a Western Conference Finals? Because that’s what San Antonio will need to stand a chance.
Travel back in time with me to Tuesday, where Harden flailed his way to 24 points thanks to a crazy discrepancy at the free throw line. But this year’s surprise MVP contender went 1-for-9 from downtown and hit just 5 of his 20 shots in a game that could’ve eventually knocked the Warriors to the No. 2 seed. Again, Curry’s teammate, Thompson, can be credited for smothering Harden on defense, but Curry was the one capitalizing in a big game — 32 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and this was while battling foul trouble in the second half. Regardless of being completely off from behind the line (3-for-11), Curry is willing his impact in other fashions of the game incredibly well during this nine game winning streak. Is Harden really deserving of the award when he no-showed twice against his stiffest competition in the Warriors?
Which brings us to Westbrook, who barely squeezed 15 points out of his last matchup against Curry. Against the Warriors, he’s been a bricklayer. He hit just 4 of his 16 shots during this March 20 contest (a 111-95 Warriors win). Westbrook is shooting just 37.5 percent in four games against Golden State this season. Westbrook looks like a frantic shell of himself when he’s supposed to be outplaying Curry.
Oh, and by the way, Curry surpassed his 2014-15 3-point total, putting this campaign as the second best shooting performance in NBA history. That’s how used to Steph dominating we’ve become: He theoretically “slumped” for parts of this season, shared the basketball with Kevin Durant, and is still putting up similar numbers that he did in his first MVP season. His last five games show a player totally in tune with the rest of the court, too (25.2 points and 10.0 assists).
As ESPN’s Ethan Sherwood-Strauss points out, let’s credit the Warriors’ defense, too. Part of the reason Curry is playing so freely is that they are dominating on that side of the basketball.
Golden State's road tour of MVP candidates:
Westbrook: 4-of-16, 15 points
Harden: 5-of-20, 24 points
Kawhi: 7-of-20, 19 points— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) March 30, 2017
Say whatever you want about his own individual defense — the Warriors are built for him to focus on being as deadly as possible with the basketball. Say whatever you want about an adjustment period he (and this entire team) will face once Durant comes back in the fold. Say whatever you want about 3-1 leads, or throwing his mouthpiece, or his struggles in past Finals. Curry has wagged his finger in front of the three best players in the league this season, reminding them — and us — of his unique powers.
By most measurements, Kawhi Leonard has made a leap this season. The Rockets are as good as they’ve been in 20 years thanks to Harden’s improved shot and passing abilities under Mike D’Antoni. Russell Westbrook is our modern day Oscar Robertson. Whether he dominates the ball or not, he’s a wrecking ball and mostly unstoppable for other NBA teams.
Outplaying this trio should not be taken lightly. Steph Curry is a savage right now and nobody in the NBA wants to see him.
