NEW YORK – The best players do not stay down for long, as Stephen Curry proved on Feb 29.
The Golden State Warriors star finally found his groove, scoring 31 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead his side to a 110-99 road victory over the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Curry was red-hot going into the All-Star break, but had shot just 31.5 per cent in his last three games – including connecting on just 21.6 per cent of his shots from three-point range.
After going 0-for-7 in the first half of the Warriors’ win over the Washington Wizards on Feb 27, he burst out of the gates in this one, tallying 11 points with seven rebounds in the first quarter.
He opened the scoring at Madison Square Garden with the first of his eight three-pointers and had 17 points and 10 rebounds by half-time.
“Every night’s different, but it didn’t hurt that in the Garden I had a good vibe and a good flow going,” Curry said.
Jonathan Kuminga added 25 points for Golden State, who grabbed a quick 14-0 lead and never trailed.
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points to lead the Knicks, who had the deficit down to four midway through the fourth quarter, but, with key contributors Julius Randle and OG Anunoby sidelined, they could not gain the upper hand.
“I thought our whole team defended at a high level tonight. We’re playing confidently right now, we got off to a great start and that set a really good tone,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
In another game, two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucks in their 111-99 victory over the Hornets in Charlotte.
Malik Beasley made five three-pointers on the way to 19 points for the Bucks, who pushed their winning streak to four games and completed a season sweep of the Hornets. It was not as lopsided as their other three victories over Charlotte this season – all by more than 30 points – but it was a convincing win nevertheless.
Milwaukee never trailed and were ahead by as many as 25 points at Spectrum Centre.
“I thought overall our focus was really good. What I like is we’re having defensive runs. We’ll be trading baskets and then we’ll get one, two, three, four, five stops in a row,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said.
Elsewhere, another sparkling effort from rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama helped the San Antonio Spurs snap a five-game losing streak with a 132-118 home victory over Western Conference contenders the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The French star scored 28 points with 13 rebounds and five blocked shots at the Frost Bank Centre. AFP
