Stephen Curry

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is known for his production on the offensive end, but those around him believe he is underrated as a defender.

Teammate Draymond Green praised Curry's defensive work after Sunday's 105-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.

Curry had six steals in the victory that took Golden State to 18-2 on the year, while Clippers starting point guard Reggie Jackson was held scoreless.

"He has a reputation of being a poor defender," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. "I don't see that at all. I think he's a really good defender. He's been great defensively all year."

Opposing teams often consider Curry the weak point of the Golden State defense, especially when Klay Thompson and Green are both on the floor to shut down players. Over his career, Curry has 85.6 offensive win shares and just 30.6 defensive win shares, per Basketball Reference.

The seven-time All-Star has still proved he can be a positive contributor on that end of the court, adding even more value to his dominant offensive game that includes a league-leading 28.6 points per contest this season.

The Golden State Warriors earned their seventh straight win on Sunday, and star point guard Stephen Curry was especially animated after getting called for a technical foul earlier in the game.

While speaking with reporters after the game, Curry explained his emotions and how his reaction affected the team.

"I thought I got fouled, so I let my emotions go," Curry said. "And definitely fired me up, fired our team up. You have to be able to direct that energy into just putting the ball in the basket, obviously, after that. So that's where I feel like we do it well, where you don't let it become a distraction for the rest of the game, and it obviously helped open up the game."

Curry finished with 33 points as the Warriors topped the Los Angeles Clippers 105-90 to improve to 18-2. He added six steals and six assists and scored 13 in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.

The two-time MVP appeared to mockingly signal for a technical after splashing one of his seven three-pointers. When asked if he was making a technical sign or gesturing for the Clippers to call timeout, Curry said with a smile, "You can decide. It's open for interpretation."

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said the technical foul over the non-call was the most upset he's seen Curry in a while, but he agreed that it fueled his performance.

"He doesn't do it often, but when he knows he's right, the competitor in him comes out. And he'll kind of lose his mind a little bit, but it often spurs him, like it did in this instance," Kerr said.

Curry's teammates enjoyed the show as well.

"You saw the flurry coming," Warriors forward Draymond Green said. "I was telling Jordan Poole over there, 'He's about to put this one up.' He started putting them up. It was good to watch."

The Warriors will go for their eighth straight win on Tuesday in a road matchup against the Phoenix Suns, who are the hottest team in the NBA. Phoenix has won 16 consecutive games and sits one game behind Golden State in the Western Conference standings at 17-3.

The Golden State Warriors continued their hot start to the season, earning their fifth straight win with a 116-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at home on Wednesday.

Stephen Curry led the way with 25 points and 10 assists as Golden State improved to 16-2, its best start to the season since 2018-19.

Philadelphia fell to 10-9 after its seventh loss in its last nine games. Seth Curry had a team-high 24 points in the final game of the Sixers' six-game road trip.

Notable Player Stats

G Stephen Curry, GSW: 25 points, 10 assists

G Andrew Wiggins, GSW: 19 points

G Seth Curry, PHI: 24 points (17 in 1st half)

G Tyrese Maxey, PHI: 19 points

Warriors Refocus in Second Half

The Warriors entered the game with the league's best defensive rating, but a lack of focus to start the contest caused them to fall behind by as many as 19 in the first half.

Golden State used a 16-6 burst at the end of the second quarter to cut the deficit to nine at halftime. Jordan Poole drilled a halfcourt buzzer-beater to give ignite the crowd.

Once the team came out of the locker room after the break, there was clearly a different energy as they stormed back.

The Warriors began forcing more turnovers on defense and getting out in transition for quick scores. They shot 13-for-19 in the third quarter and took their first lead since it was 9-7. The Warriors had 11 assists on their 13 field goals.

Golden State is now plus-137 in the third quarter after outscoring Philadelphia 34-23. 

The fourth quarter saw much of the same as the Warriors used a 15-3 run to turn a tie game into a 12-point lead. Golden State outscored Philadelphia 30-12 in the fourth, utilizing its trademark ball movement and attacking the rim relentlessly to put the game away.

The Warriors almost allowed a depleted Sixers team to beat them at home. A renewed focus in the second half saved them, but Golden State will have to come out with the same energy to start games if they hope to continue their win streak.

Sixers Take Advantage of Warriors' Early Mistakes

Despite playing without stars Joel Embiid (health and safety protocols) and Tobias Harris (hip), the Sixers made Wednesday's game more competitive than it was expected to be.

Philadelphia came out aggressively in the first half and took advantage of Golden State playing out of character. The Sixers took a 55-36 lead midway through the second quarter.

Seth Curry was excellent to start the game with 17 of his 24 points in the first half. The Sixers were able to find the soft spots in the Golden State defense and forced the Warriors into 10 turnovers before the break.

Things fell apart in the second half, but it was largely due to the Sixers getting caught in a Golden State avalanche. Once the Warriors get going like they did in the third quarter, it's hard for any team to stop them, let alone an undermanned Philadelphia team.

The Sixers can take comfort in the fact that their role players gained some valuable experience while the stars were out. Once Philadelphia is back at full strength, the team will be more prepared to turn its season around thanks to games like this.

What's Next?

The Warriors will go for their sixth straight win on Friday when the Portland Trail Blazers come to town. The Sixers will look to get back on track at home on Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Golden State Warriors trio Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala will all miss Friday night's matchup with the Detroit Pistons because of injury. 

Curry is obviously the headliner of that group. He was named an NBA MVP finalist in the 2020-21 season after helping the Warriors to the eighth-best record in the Western Conference, but they were eliminated from playoff contention with two losses in the play-in tournament.

The seven-time All-Star was often the only consistent scoring threat on Golden State's roster during the season. He led the league with a career-high 32 points per game and shot 42.1 percent from three-point range on 12.7 attempts per game. 

Curry kicked off the 2021-22 season with a triple-double in the Warriors' 121-114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He's leading the team in scoring average (29.5 points per game) and ranks second in assists (6.5) and rebounds (6.1). 

Golden State is off to a fantastic 13-2 start, best in the NBA to this point. 

This is an important season for the Warriors as they look to return to the ranks of the Western Conference elite. They are expecting to get Klay Thompson back around Christmas after he missed the past two seasons because of injuries and have 2021 lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody to boost their depth.

Curry's health will determine the Warriors' ultimate ceiling in 2021-22. A serious injury to the two-time MVP would cause a lot of concern for the franchise, however, Friday's hip contusion seems to be minor.

With the Warriors playing a back-to-back after Thursday night's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, it appears head coach Steve Kerr is looking to rest his key players as Golden State eyes another championship.

Despite dropping 40 points in Golden State's 104-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, Warriors guard Stephen Curry isn't sure whether he'll play Friday's game against the Detroit Pistons after attempting to take a charge on Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden during Tuesday's game left him shaken up. 

"I'll get an assessment," Curry told reporters after Thursday's win. "That charge really messed with me a little bit, so I'm just trying to deal with that a little bit. So we'll see how it feels when I wake up."

Curry suffered the left hip contusion in Tuesday's 117-99 win over the Nets after colliding with Harden in the third quarter. 

Even if he doesn't play Friday's game, his performance during Thursday's win over the Cavaliers proved he's one of the toughest and best players in the NBA. The 33-year-old, who was initially listed as questionable, finished with 40 points, four rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes. The road crowd even chanted "MVP" for the veteran in the fourth quarter. 

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also lauded Curry after Thursday's win, saying: "He's one of the greatest players in the history of the game. And he's the greatest three-point shooter of all time." Curry made 9-of-16 from deep against the Cavs. 

Curry has been a major reason the Warriors have been so successful early on this season. The three-time NBA champion entered Thursday averaging 28.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game while shooting 45.4 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from deep. 

While Curry is playing such a large role in the team's success, there's no reason to make him play on back-to-back nights against a Pistons team that is 4-10. If he gets some rest, he could return for a more difficult matchup against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. 

If Curry is ruled out, Gary Payton II or Jordan Poole would be in line to start at point guard. Damion Lee should also see some more playing time if Curry is sidelined. 

The Warriors own the best record in the NBA at 13-2, though the Phoenix Suns are just 1.5 games behind Golden State for the top spot in the Western Conference.  

If you were looking for a metric to determine whether the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry or Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant is having the better individual season, then NBA 2K22 isn't providing much help.

The game's developers dropped a new set of player ratings Thursday, and Curry and Durant are now the highest-rated stars after their overall ratings were bumped up to 97.

Curry is the NBA's leading scorer at 28.7 points per game, and he has powered the Warriors to the league's best record at 12-2.

Durant, meanwhile, is shooting 56.7 percent from the field and averaging 28.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Despite missing Kyrie Irving, the Nets are second in the Eastern Conference at 11-5.

Both Durant and Curry are assembling MVP-caliber resumes.

While they have a lot of ground to make up on the former Warriors teammates, Ja Morant and Rudy Gobert entered a distinguished club. The Memphis Grizzlies playmaker and Utah Jazz big man both moved up to 90 overall.

Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George, on the other hand, fell out of the 90 club after losing one ratings point. In the initial batch of ratings, George gained two points but now sits at 89 overall.

Likewise, the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic (minus-one to 93), the Nets' James Harden (minus-two to 92) and the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard (minus-four to 90) lost ground.