In the early morning of May 1, Beijing time, the Warriors defeated the Kings 120-100 to win seven games and advance to the Western Conference semifinals. In this game, Stephen Curry played 37 minutes and 41 seconds, shooting 20 of 38 in sports, including 7 of 18 three-pointers and 3 of 5 free throws, becoming the setter of the playoffs for scoring seven single-game points.
In the game, Curry made a career record of 38 shots, and 13 of his 20 goals were scored by his own ability, without being assisted by his teammates, and his low assist rate was rare in his career. Eleven of those 20 goals came from inside the box, with Curry shooting 11 of 14 and a whopping 78.6 percent of the sights.
Can you imagine that this is a 35-year-old defender who is no more than 1.88 meters tall in the playoffs?
When we marvel at Curry's seven-stealing performance, we ignore one point: Throughout the series, Curry has been carrying the Warriors forward, he has played more than 40 minutes in 3 games, G3 and G7, if it were not for the Warriors' big win, Curry would not have played less than 40 minutes, G6 Curry only played 36 minutes and 18 seconds because the Warriors lost miserably.
There is really nothing to blow about Curry's technology, even Kerr, Thompson and others do not know how to blow, and a simple phrase "the greatest in history" fools the past.
Then change the angle, for example, endurance.
The 35-year-old Curry, who is averaging 39.1 minutes per game, ranks 9th in the playoffs this season, and six of the eight players ahead of him are under the age of 30. Prior to this season, the last time a player played 39+ minutes per game in a playoff game at this age was back in 2012-13, when 35-year-old Paul Pierce averaged 42.5 minutes per game.
Curry averages 4.84 kilometers per game, including 2.78 kilometers per game on the offensive end, both of which are No. 1 in the playoffs, and he is the king of running distance in the league. In such exhausting conditions, Curry still averaged 33.7 points per game in the series, shooting 62.1% from the field.
In the fourth quarter, the most physically tested quarter, Curry scored a total of 81 points (NBA official website data), and his shooting percentage was as high as 52.5%. Although Curry had a total of 23 errors in the first round, he played 72 minutes in the fourth quarter with only one turnover. Curry always faces several young players chasing and blocking, but they can't stop Curry.
Curry also spared no effort to run on the defensive end, averaging 2.06 kilometers per game, on par with Jaylen Brown and Cameron Johnson. Curry is mainly defended by Kings shooter Hertel, and chasing Hertl is a huge drain on physical energy, but Curry limits opponents' three-point shooting to 3-of-12 shooting. In addition, Curry will also go against Fox, who limits him to 6-of-14 shooting and four turnovers.
Kerr sighed: "Curry seems to be in such good shape that it feels incredible, and perhaps the most underrated thing about him is his endurance. Everyone talks about Curry's skills, but in fact, it's his incredible endurance that is the key to getting the most out of his skills, whether on or off the ball. Outside of the attack, he also works the defensive end, he does a good job defensively, the defense takes a lot of his energy, but he looks great overall. ”