When granted the opportunity, one must take advantage and witness greatness.
While one can effectively argue that we see greatness with every blink of an eye, sometimes one must travel, splurge and go out of one’s way to experience true, one of a kind, unparalleled, sharp-shooting greatness.
BCole and I did exactly that last Thursday evening; Steph Curry was in town, the most accomplished shooter of ours or any generation. We’d earmarked this date on our calendar as one not to be missed. After seeing what went down at the Kia Center that night, I’m not sure I’ve ever been more correct about a hunch.
Nine years ago, almost to the day, I drove to Orlando to see Steph Curry manhandle the Magic. Even wrote about it. Curry dropped 53 that night back in 2016. It was the most points I’d ever seen any player score in any game. Awed by his greatness that season, Curry won unanimous MVP, the first time that sportswriters had ever doled out such an honor.
So, when Steph came back to Orlando, how could I not escort the basketball-savvy BCole to witness one of the all-time greats. In accordance with the Stevie Ray Vaughan Rule of 1990, a road trip was in order.
Aside from the Steph-tacular performance that we’ll get to in a moment, this game was the tale of two teams traveling in opposite directions. After a hot start, the Orlando Magic were flailing. Largely, if not solely, reliant on their two super stars, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, the Magic have sorely missed their injured starting point guard and third option Jalen Suggs. Without him, Orlando has floundered, if not proven entirely incompetent at the guard position. They have been at the center position for years. The timid and perhaps far too loyal to their current roster front office made no moves at the trade deadline hoping this lineup would be good enough.
Spoiler alert: it’s not.
The exact opposite can be said for the Golden State Warriors who still feature one of the best guards to ever play the game. The Warriors also landed formerly disgruntled superstar Jimmy Butler from Miami with the hopes of bolstering their roster for a playoff run.
Still tinkering with how to work Butler into their game plan, the Warriors were coming off an impressive home win but had just crossed the country to play Orlando. The Magic had just been embarrassed by forty on their home floor by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Eastern Conference’s best team. Surely, this would be a get right spot for Orlando, presuming they could cool off the greatest shooter in the game.
Spoiler Alert #2: They couldn’t.
I take that back. In the first half, the Magic were dominant, sticking with their game plan and doing what they do best. Paolo Banchero caught fire early, hitting his first nine shots. The Magic were up by fourteen at halftime. This was how you beat the Warriors. Get easy looks near the basket and play to your strengths. Wagner and Banchero are tough to contend with around the rim. When they stop working hard, and settling for jump shots, things fall apart. That’s exactly what happened on Thursday night right before our very eyes. It coincided with Steph Curry reminding everyone in the nation that he’s uncoverable.
I’d told BCole that my only regret seeing Steph Curry drop 53 on the Magic back in 2016 was not having my phone out to catch a three-pointer he’d launched from three-quarters court. I would not make the same mistake twice. Phone in hand, this time I was prepared, unlike the gentleman sitting right in front of us. Play close attention here to what happens when Golden State inbounds the ball after a made Orlando basket.
Curry ended the half with a beyond halfcourt shot at the buzzer and shame on the guy directly in front of us for not being familiar with Steph Curry’s handiwork. BCole and I had splurged for club seats and while I get that the average club level fan might not be as in tune as those who sit in the bleachers, seriously, buddy, you paid a pretty penny to keep your eyes on Curry the entire time. You never know what you’ll miss if, even for a moment, you stop paying attention. This guy will probably tell everyone he was in the stands for Curry’s gut-busting three, but I have video evidence he took his eyes off the play. Shame on you!
And shame on the Magic defenders for doing the same. It’s not like Curry hasn’t done this before. He’s out there making these in practice while you’re figuring out how to stop him! Front the man on the inbounds!
Instead of going into halftime up 17 points, we saw a huge momentum shift and a crowd eager for Curry’s return. We all knew what was coming, except of course for the Magic and the douche sitting in front of us.
Curry’s cult of personality remains among the strongest in the NBA. In 2016 when I saw him, MVP chants reigned down from the Orlando rafters. Thursday night, it happened again. Curry jerseys coursed through the arena. While Magic fans were loud, Curry fans were rambunctious. Rightfully so.
They stayed that way throughout the second half as Curry put on a performance for the ages, the crowd getting louder with every made shot. Curry outscored the entire Orlando Magic roster in the third quarter, dropping 22 while Orlando mustered only 21. The lead was gone, hopes of winning the game all but over. Curry had singlehandedly burst Orlando’s bubble, and the crowd couldn’t have been happier.
Frustrated that our team was settling for ill advised shots while Curry did whatever he pleased, I turned to BCole after each made basket, the degree of difficulty getting higher. She shrewdly replied, “I mean, this is why we came, right?”
She was right. This is exactly why we came.
Curry was un-guardable. Everyone in the stands knew what was coming and unfortunately, most were rooting for it to happen. There is no such thing as home court advantage when playing against the Warriors.
The Magic would make a run late but ultimately, Curry could not be stopped. We figured as much, getting there early enough to catch pregame warmups, what has become a must-see ritual, Curry taking and making shots from everywhere on the court with the basketball barely touching nylon.
The game has never seen anything like him, not sure it ever will again. And while hometown hero Paolo Banchero dropped an astonishing 41, it was all for naught. Curry finished the night with 56, putting forth the most amazing performance anyone in that arena, other than his teammates, had ever seen. The last time I saw Curry, he hung 53 on Orlando. Thursday night, nine years later, he was even better. Freakish to say that at 36, he’s as deadly as he’s ever been.
As we left the arena and got into the elevators, we rode up to the third floor of the parking garage alongside two men, both wearing Curry jerseys. I joked with them that they could have gone easy on us that night. They looked at us and in unison said only two words. “Curry, man.”
They and BCole were right. While we love the Magic, this was exactly why we came. Steph Curry had just submitted the most dominant basketball performance I’d ever seen, topping his previous performance which was also the most dominant performance I’d ever seen. I suppose there’s something to be said for consistency.
Look closely at the half court shot again, walking off as if it were another day at the office. Curry has made the impossible look routine.
As we left simultaneously upset and giddy, we didn’t realize Curry had dropped 12 three pointers that night. Here’s how ridiculous his performance was. On the ride home, I’d asked the sleepy and blissfully unaware BCole how many three-pointers she thought Curry had hit. She mumbled “18.” In all honesty, I had to look up what the actual NBA record was, which is 14 in a game by his former Warriors teammate Klay Thompson, but the mere fact that she’d guessed 18 showed just how freakish his night was. You could throw any number out there and not be surprised. Curry was 12-19 from behind the arc that night and a perfect 12-12 from the free throw stripe.
It was as dominant a game as you’ll ever see. And we wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
