Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry had one clear message as he dropped 34 points in 23 minutes in the Warriors convincing Game 2 victory over the Denver Nuggets to take a 2-0 series lead: “I’m f—ing back.”
Curry ended his night with 34 points, four assists, three rebounds, one block and one assist, as the Warriors dominated the Nuggets en route to a 126-106 victory.
“[There was a little] pep in my step and the body felt good,” Curry said, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews. “You make certain shots, feels a little bit different and more normal and more emotion comes out, especially with that layoff. It was a nice feeling.”
Curry finished with an eye-popping plus-32 net rating.
“He was incredible,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “He just kept driving, and I think that broke their defense. Once he did that, you’ve got him into the paint kicking out and flying back off for 3s. That’s when Steph is at his most dangerous — off the ball. The way he came in and settled our offense, it’s what you expect from Steph. … To be plus-32 in 23 minutes, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
“Curry is the greatest sixth man ever in the playoffs,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “The most dangerous guy on the floor is the guy who just passed the ball, and Steph Curry is the embodiment of that. And he’s been doing it for years. He gives the ball up, you relax, and he’s flying off another screen, and he makes you pay.”
The Nuggets have struggled defending the Warriors lineups, and their offensive firepower.
“It’s hard to game plan against because you have to give something up,” Curry said. “There’s just a lot of options. And for teams to make those decisions on the fly, it’s difficult, especially when we are playing fast.”
