【Star】Curry vs Durant team highlights
On February 21, Beijing time, the 2022 All-Star Game came to an end, and leBron narrowly defeated Durant 163-160, and since the All-Star Game was restructured into a captain selection system, LeBron has won 5 consecutive wins.
In the game, Stephen Curry shot 17-of-30 from 36 minutes, including a game-high 50 points plus five rebounds, two assists and two blocks on 16-of-27 three-point range. Not only was Curry the strongest performer on his All-Star tour, but 16 three-pointers in a single game also broke the all-Star Game record, but it was a shame that Curry failed to break Anthony Davis' single-Game 52-point All-Star Game scoring record. In the last quarter, Curry had many opportunities to break the record, but unfortunately he missed the record again and again.
For Curry, going to Cleveland to play the All-Star Game has two meanings. Cleveland is his hometown, and he was born in Akron, Ohio, and is also the son of Akron. In addition, Cleveland retains many good memories of Curry, who once took the Warriors to lift the championship trophy in Cleveland, and he also said that he "hopes that the away locker room of the Quickloan Center still has the aroma of champagne."
However, although Curry was born in Akron, most local fans never regard him as their own. The reason is that during the Warriors Dynasty, Curry brought them too many bad memories. When the Cavaliers reached the Finals for four consecutive years, they became Curry's background board three times. So, today's all-star admission ceremony, when introduced to Curry, there was a burst of boos on the scene. Curry was generous, he could understand why the fans booed him, he made a two-handed gesture, and his mouth kept saying "thank you".
A similar dilemma was experienced by Kobe Bryant in 2002. That year's Philadelphia All-Star Game, Philadelphia-born Kobe Bryant returned home to play, and the result was booed by Philadelphia fans. The year before, Bryant helped the Lakers beat the 76ers 4-1 in the Finals to win the championship, and coupled with some harsh words Kobe bryant said in the interview, Philadelphia fans regarded Kobe Bryant as an enemy.
"It really hurts," Bryant said at the time, "I was in high school here, and they booed me in the first game I played here in my rookie season, and I was supposed to be here for another home, which hurt so much." ”
Bryant turned his anger into strength, and although he could hear boos every time he touched the ball, he scored 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists to lead the Western Conference All-Stars to a 135-120 victory over the Eastern Conference All-Stars. Iverson, who played at home, scored just five points in that game, and Michael Jordan, who played in the All-Star Game for the first time after the Wizards returned, scored only eight points.
And today, in the face of the frenzy of the local cleveland fans, although Curry did not play with the same revenge mentality as Kobe Bryant did, his desire to prove himself was still very strong. In previous all-stars, Curry rarely performed so seriously, he often played more than 20 minutes to get off the field, and four of the first 7 All-Star trips did not hit more than 38% of the single game.
But today is different, before the game, Curry said in an interview with Shen Yang, a reporter from Tencent Sports: "This stadium carries a lot of my memories, records many of my moments, whether it is good or bad, this stadium is very special to me." When talking about the All-Star MVP competition, Curry also changed his previous low profile and humility, he admitted that he wanted to work hard to compete for the trophy: "The All-Star MVP Trophy is named after Kobe, I used to come here to enjoy the game, but this year because the league redesigned the trophy, so I especially want to compete, I want to win for Kobe, I want to keep shooting." ”
Sure enough, as Curry said before the game, his attitude toward the game today is obviously different from the past few Times to play the All-Star Game. The fixed-point three-pointers hit by Curry when the strength of the opening two sides was loose were not worth mentioning, and as the game deepened, perhaps because the intensity was too low and boring, Curry began to try high-difficult operations, and the super long three-pointers and dribbling blocking and dismantling followed.
Facing Joel Embiid's misplaced defense, Curry made a small shot and retreated to hit a three-point shot.
The regular shot was not interesting, and Curry played the Golden Rooster independent three-pointer after blocking and dismantling.
In front of Trae Young, who is also good at over-the-top three-pointers, Curry gave a few lessons to the juniors, and after scoring the goal, he turned around and ran to the backcourt without waiting for the ball to fall into the net.
Facing embiid and Tatum's bag, Curry still walked idly to hit the dry three-pointer. How many times have you seen a bag clip on the all-star stage?
The significance of these three-pointers is not only to make the Cavaliers fans at the Speed Loan Center turn boos into cheers, but another meaning of these three-pointers is that Curry wants to make them understand in front of the "inverted Curry" led by "Big O" Oscar Robertson that he has brought the league into a new era with three-pointers, and his three-point shots have changed the trajectory of the sport and the history of the league.
A few years ago, when the Curry boom was just emerging, Robertson publicly stated that Curry could not achieve so much if he played in the era of playing, because Curry would encounter extremely tough defense, and if he was replaced to defend Curry, he would put defensive pressure on Curry in half-court. There are many celebrities who agree with Robertson's views, and Charles Barkley, Walter Fraser, who are also selected as the top 75 stars, have publicly expressed their disdain for Curry.
In the third quarter of today, when Curry opened the three-point surge of the second half, the broadcast footage was given to Robertson on the sidelines at the right time, and the meaning was self-evident.
Curry proved in front of Robertson today that with his current dribbling ability to get rid of the ball, the ability to hold the ball and shoot strongly, and the unlimited range, he is not at all limited by the half-court defense, and Robertson's set is limited to paper.
Yesterday's All-Star Media Day, all-stars from Rudy Gobert to Andrew Wiggins said Curry was an unworldly prodigy who changed the sport with three-pointers. I just don't know if Robertson and other "inverted librarians" have been impressed by Curry's performance and changed their cognition and attitude towards Curry.
In his hometown, he played a super performance with boos, copied Kobe Bryant's miracle 20 years ago, lifted the first All-Star MVP trophy of his career, and fulfilled his promise to pay tribute to Kobe with this trophy named after Kobe. Break the All-Star one-game three-point record, and raise this record to a height that will be difficult for future generations to break, and prove yourself in front of a large number of famous people. For Curry, this All-Star weekend couldn't have been perfect.