{"id":7649,"date":"2023-11-07T18:48:20","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T15:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/7649\/behind-stephen-currys-mvp-like-start\/"},"modified":"2023-11-07T18:48:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T15:48:21","slug":"behind-stephen-currys-mvp-like-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=7649","title":{"rendered":"Behind Stephen Curry&#8217;s MVP-like start with the Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Behind Stephen Curry&#8217;s MVP-like start with the Warriors\u060c<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><\/div>\n<p>Kendra Andrews, ESPN<span class=\"timestamp \">November 7, 2023, 1:00 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Golden State Warriors were losing their grip in an early-season test against their rivals Sacramento Kings, and Stephen Curry had seen enough.<\/p>\n<p>It was October 27, and fans at Golden 1 Center had witnessed a furious 20-6 fourth-quarter run to cut the Warriors&#8217; lead \u2014 15 points just three minutes earlier \u2014 to five with 45 seconds left. to play.<\/p>\n<p>As Andrew Wiggins drove to the basket, drawing two defenders toward him, Curry sneaked to the top of the 3-point line as two Kings closed out unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n<p>Night night.<\/p>\n<p>Curry&#8217;s 41-point performance in the second game of the season, a 122-114 victory for the Warriors, set the tone for a hot <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/start\/\"   title=\"start\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">start<\/a>, even by Steph&#8217;s standards.<\/p>\n<p>Curry is averaging 30.9 points on 55.1% shooting from the field, 46.5% from 3 and 94.4% from the free throw line.  He is the only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points in his first eight games of a season at age 35 or older, according to research from ESPN Stats &#038; Information.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#8217;s Choice<\/h2>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>This is also the third time Curry has averaged 30 points on 50-45-90 shooting in his first eight games of a season \u2013 a feat no other NBA player has accomplished.<\/p>\n<p>Curry also led the Warriors in scoring in all eight games, the longest streak to start a season by a player 35 or older.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s one of the hardest workers to play the game,&#8221; Warriors guard Klay Thompson told ESPN of Curry&#8217;s strong start.  &#8220;There&#8217;s no limit. He could change the narrative of what it looks like to be elite until you&#8217;re 40. LeBron [James] does the same and Steph follows suit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Curry has had a handful of dazzling moments already this season: his big game in Sacramento, the &#8220;Kevin McCallister from Home Alone&#8221; celebration after grilling Dillon Brooks in Houston, and his last-second (albeit controversial) game-winner in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n<p>But unlike last season, the Warriors aren&#8217;t relying on Curry&#8217;s theatrics to keep the offense rolling.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-lazyload=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/NBArank-2023-Player-rankings-for-2023-24-from-10-to.jpg\" class=\"round lazyload\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wednesday November 8<\/strong><br \/>Spurs at Knicks, 7:30 p.m.<br \/>Warriors at the Nuggets, 10 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Friday November 10<\/strong><br \/>Nets at Celtics, 7:30 p.m.<br \/>Lakers at Suns, 10 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><em>All times Eastern<\/em><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Curry started well last season before suffering a shoulder injury in December.  In his first 26 games, Curry averaged 30.0 points on 50-43-92 shooting, ranking in the top five overall with 131 3-pointers, 26 more than any other player.  The Warriors desperately needed Curry to dominate games just to have a chance to <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/win\/\"   title=\"win\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">win<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When he sat, Golden State was drowning.  From the start of the 2022-23 season until Curry&#8217;s injury in December, the Warriors had an offensive efficiency rating of 118.9 with him on the court, a figure that dropped to 99.9 when he was off ground.  The last team to have an offensive efficiency below 100.0 points per 100 possessions for an entire season was the 2015-16 Philadelphia 76ers, with a 10-72 record.<\/p>\n<p>Curry&#8217;s minutes were long.  His workload was higher.<\/p>\n<p>The team&#8217;s improved defense this season has allowed the Warriors to stay in games if Curry sits.  In 130 minutes without Curry on the court, the Warriors outscored their opponents by 11.5 points per 100 possessions.  They allow just 98.2 points per 100 possessions when Curry is on the bench.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It helps you become a better team because you can resist [opponent&#8217;s] energy,&#8221; Curry told ESPN. &#8220;It gives everyone confidence that [I] we don&#8217;t have to do anything miraculous, we can just shoot baskets and win.  And, aside from the stats and all that, that&#8217;s all you think about.  \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Another reason was the lack of turnovers, an effort led by offseason acquisition and future Hall of Famer Chris Paul.  When Curry is on the bench, the Warriors are top five in the league in turnover percentage.  And according to Second Spectrum, the Warriors have outscored their opponents by more than 13 points per 100 possessions with Paul on the floor and Curry off the floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur bench unit is way better than our starting unit right now, plus-minus-wise, and Chris is a big reason why,\u201d Curry said.  \u201cThe benefit is maintaining or building, or even they came back a few times and got us back in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The only thing that has surprised Curry so far this season was that moment against Brooks in Houston after he scored a 3-pointer and added the &#8220;Kevin McCallister&#8221; to his long list of celebrations that include his shimmy shake and his famous night.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data- media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data- media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">It should come as no surprise that Stephen Curry&#8217;s dazzling start to the season has him hoping for a third MVP title. <cite>Jon Shapley\/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;You surprise yourself &#8211; it&#8217;s not just the movement [I] &#8220;I&#8217;m just having fun out there and there&#8217;s a good flow&#8230; you get that <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/reaction\/\"   title=\"reaction\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">reaction<\/a> because there&#8217;s a sense of joy and accomplishment. There&#8217;s nothing choreographed, as goofy and hilarious as it may seem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Warriors coach Steve Kerr said there are no more superlatives to describe Curry&#8217;s greatness.  Kerr compared Curry to Michael Jordan, his former Chicago Bulls teammate, and said watching Curry score was akin to a religious experience.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s amazing to see him. He looks better than ever at 35,&#8221; Kerr said.  &#8220;He works every summer and continues to look for ways to improve. &#8230; There&#8217;s a reason he&#8217;s Steph Curry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou&#8217;re amazed and you appreciate it,\u201d Warriors forward Draymond Green told ESPN.  \u201cWe had this back-to-back in Houston and New Orleans [last week] and he took over those two games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And it all leads to the argument \u2013 \u200b\u200bfrom the start of the season \u2013 that Curry could make a strong effort to win his third MVP, becoming the oldest player to receive that award.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely, he can be MVP,\u201d Green said.  \u201c100%.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Behind Stephen Curry&#8217;s MVP-like start with the Warriors\u060c Kendra Andrews, ESPNNovember 7, 2023, 1:00 p.m. The Golden State Warriors were losing their grip in an early-season test against their rivals Sacramento Kings, and Stephen Curry had seen enough. It was October 27, and fans at Golden 1 Center had witnessed a furious 20-6 fourth-quarter run [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4927,4928,37,1214,1390],"class_list":["post-7649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-currys","tag-mvplike","tag-start","tag-stephen","tag-warriors"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7651,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7649\/revisions\/7651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}