Stephen Curry

Tuesday marked the first time Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant faced each other in a game with any kind of stakes since the latter left the Golden State Warriors following the 2018-19 season.

Yes, it's November. Yes, both teams are missing stars. But the Warriors and Brooklyn Nets have both shown flashes of Finals upside, and Curry and Durant are both among the early MVP favorites.

In fact, entering Tuesday's action, they were the top two in FanDuel Sportsbook's MVP odds. And after Golden State's 117-99 shellacking of Brooklyn, in which Curry scored 37 points in just 29 minutes and on 12-of-19 shooting (including 9-of-14 from three), his lead on that particular list could grow.

In this matchup of former championship teammates, Curry didn't just outplay Durant, who had 19 points on 19 shots—he reminded him of who his best running mate was.

Throughout the overwhelming majority of Durant's career, he's shared the floor with fellow stars. He made the Finals in his age-23 season, alongside James Harden and Russell Westbrook. His partnership with the latter lasted four more years after that one. Then, he joined Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson on the Warriors for three seasons. His current superteam includes Harden and Kyrie Irving.

Harden and Westbrook both have MVPs. The former is fifth all-time in career offensive box plus/minus. The latter averaged a triple-double over the course of five seasons. Irving averaged 27.1 points and shot 40.5 percent from three on the way to a championship in the 2016 Finals.

But none of them have reached (or can reach) the heights Curry has (and does). And none of them have ever played in a way that meshed as easily with KD.

Perhaps the most underappreciated aspect of Curry's greatness is his unselfishness. And that's something he's demonstrated with far more than assist numbers.

When Durant joined him ahead of the 2016-17 season, Curry was coming off his second MVP win (and the first unanimous selection in league history). He preempted the potential chemistry issues that might've followed an all-time great scorer like Durant by willingly operating off the ball and quietly playing through countless acknowledgments that KD was the best player on the team.

On one occasion during their time together, Warriors coach Steve Kerr called Durant, "the best player in the world, most skilled player in the world." On another, Kerr added, "I think Kevin wants to be recognized as the best player in the world. And I happen to think he is."

There were never any grumblings of discontent from Curry, who had lifted Golden State to one championship, a 73-win season and back-to-back Finals appearances. He remained the good supportive soldier as Durant won both Finals MVPs for the two titles they won together.

There isn't a great argument for Curry to have either of those trophies. Durant was absurd in those series, with 32.3 points and a 12.7 box plus/minus that dwarfed Curry's 7.2. But there is an argument that Curry was that team's best player, or at least its most important, over the course of those three years.

When both were on the floor, the Warriors dominated to the tune of plus-15.7 points per 100 possessions. They were a still overwhelming plus-10.9 when Curry played without Durant, but they fell to a much more mortal-looking plus-3.1 when Durant played without Curry.

There are plenty of reasons for the impact, but that unselfishness may have been chief among them. Curry is one of the most malleable superstars ever. He can do about as much damage manipulating defenses as he moves off the ball as he does running pick-and-rolls in the middle of the floor. The attention he commands, whether he's handling the ball or not, gives his teammates precious extra space on their own catches.

As good as Westbrook, Harden and Irving are (or were when playing with Durant), none elevate those around them in quite the same way Curry does.

Harden and Westbrook have gaudy assist numbers, but plenty of those come after either pounds the ball for the entire possession before dropping it off for the dime. There's obviously value in that production, but it's not the kind of rising-tide-lifts-all-boats impact Curry has. His willingness and ability to fly around the floor without the ball fosters ball and player movement from everyone else. And the more touches the other four players are getting, the more engaged they'll be.

This season, Curry's influence on Golden State's offense has been as evident as ever. And he's helped promote breakouts from Gary Payton II and Jordan Poole while continuing to foster his chemistry with Draymond Green.

He can and still does take over games too.

On Tuesday, he set the tone early with a stepback three less than two minutes into the game over Blake Griffin. A few minutes later, he caught the ball off a deflection, stepped back and hit another triple. Next came a logo three (and another stepback over Griffin). And on the very next possession, he pulled up in transition from the same distance, just a little further toward the right wing.

All of that happened in the first quarter. And despite Brooklyn staying close throughout the first half, it felt very much like one of those nights. It's a feeling NBA fans have gotten used to over the last eight or nine seasons.

With his range and nose for the big moments, Curry can seize control of a game (and an entire night of NBA basketball, thanks to "League Pass alerts") in a way few others across history have been able to.

He did it again in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, when he put three three-point nails into the Nets' coffin. By the time he was done, Curry had his 39th career game (regular and postseason) with at least nine triples (Damian Lillard is second on that list with 12 such games).

When they were teammates, Durant had one of the best seats in the house for 16 of those games. On Tuesday, he was on the receiving end of the barrage, getting a vivid reminder of how explosive Curry can be. And perhaps more striking, he was reminded just how much easier Curry makes the game for everyone else.

There may not be an official number for this, but it's tough to imagine many have singlehandedly scrambled as many defensive possessions as Curry has.

Durant is doing fine individually. Even after a bad game (by his standards), he's averaging 28.9 points with a 62.1 effective field-goal percentage. But it's tough to watch a game like Tuesday's without remembering how Durant thrived in the chaos Curry created.

The 2021-22 Golden State Warriors still don't know what a losing streak feels like.

Golden State cruised past the Brooklyn Nets 117-99 in Tuesday's potential NBA Finals preview at Barclays Center. Stephen Curry spearheaded the effort for the victors, who improved to 12-2 on the season and bounced back from Sunday's loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

James Harden and Kevin Durant led the way in defeat for the Nets, who dropped to 10-5 and saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.

Notable Player Stats

• Stephen Curry, G, GS: 37 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 9-of-14 3PT
• Draymond Green, F, GS: 11 PTS, 8 AST, 6 REB
• Andrew Wiggins, F, GS: 19 PTS, 2 REB, 7-of-11 FG
• James Harden, G, BKN: 24 PTS, 4 AST, 4 REB
• Kevin Durant, F, BKN: 19 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST

Curry Shines, Supporting Cast Delivers as Warriors Cruise

That Golden State entered Tuesday's game with the best record in the NBA is certainly a warning to the rest of the league since Klay Thompson and James Wiseman are working their way back and yet to play this season.

The clash with the Nets was another opportunity to make a statement, and Curry was up for the challenge. The MVP candidate poured in 19 points in the first half alone to stake his team to a five-point lead while darting through Brooklyn defenders off the bounce, relentlessly working his way through screens and draining five triples with the flick of a wrist.

It wasn't a one-man effort, though, as Andrew Wiggins caught fire to end the half.

He scored 13 points in the second quarter and drilled back-to-back three-pointers to end the half with the second one coming at the buzzer with a hand in his face. His secondary scoring has been critical with Thompson sidelined, and it was more of the same after he scored 28 points against the Hornets and 35 points on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That momentum could have ended for the visitors when Curry picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter, but they pushed a 13-point advantage to 22 heading into the fourth.

Draymond Green facilitated, attacked the basket and drilled a three over Durant while letting his former teammate know about it. Jordan Poole got out in transition; Gary Payton II provided a spark off the bench as a scorer, rebounder and defender; and Andre Iguodala drilled a buzzer-beater three to open a commanding lead.

If the game wasn't over when the Warriors flexed their depth, it was when Curry returned in the fourth quarter and remained on fire with multiple triples from well beyond the arc. It was a vintage performance for the future Hall of Famer, and the supporting cast was dialed in as well as Golden State stayed atop the NBA.

Nets Fall Apart in 3rd Quarter

There was a time early in the season when the headlines surrounding the Nets centered on Kyrie Irving's status and their inconsistency on the court during a 2-3 start, but that changed thanks to a stretch of eight wins in nine games prior to Tuesday's high-profile showdown.

Durant has unsurprisingly carried them during the recent hot streak, and the start of this game was no different as he scored 16 points in the first half while finding his touch from the outside and working his way into the lane against smaller defenders.

Harden has been the primary facilitator, but he also provided a scoring punch thanks to his ability to get to the free-throw line. Throw in Bruce Brown doing a little bit of everything and taking advantage of the spacing playing alongside Durant and Harden creates, and it looked like Brooklyn was well on its way to another win.

However, only three other Nets even scored in the first half, which was not enough to match Golden State's Curry-led firepower. That put the home team in comeback mode entering the second half as it played without Joe Harris and Paul Millsap.

Brooklyn missed Harris' shooting as it was outscored 35-18 in the third quarter with Iguodala hounding Durant as part of a triangle-and-two defensive approach. Durant went ice-cold and missed all eight of his field-goal attempts in the quarter, and the offense promptly fell apart.

The Nets will win plenty of games this season and are surely on the short list of realistic championship contenders, but even one poor stretch is a recipe for a loss against the red-hot Warriors.

The fourth quarter was nothing more than a formality after Brooklyn failed to match Golden State's energy on either end during the third.

What's Next?

Both teams face the Cleveland Cavaliers in their next game. Brooklyn hosts the Cavaliers on Wednesday, while the Warriors travel to Cleveland for Thursday's contest.

When you're Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, you have to think outside the box in order to hone your shooting stroke.

Curry's personal coach, Brandon Payne, told the Wall Street Journal's Ben Cohen that he and the two-time MVP were looking for "swishes within swishes." To that end, they worked alongside a researcher, Rachel Marty Pyke, and used her shot-tracking data to effectively shrink the size of the basket for Curry to target:

A shot that strays nearly 5 inches away from the center of the hoop in either direction can still be a swish. But that margin of error in his left-right positioning was much too high for Curry. So last summer, as he shot threes in the NBA offseason, he gave himself only 3 inches of wiggle room. He was even more demanding when shooting from closer: Curry’s leeway for his free throws was 2 inches.

The approach hasn't yielded great results just yet. Through 13 games, Curry is hitting 38.7 percent of his three-pointers. He has never made less than 40 percent over a full season.

But sometimes perfection requires taking a step back.

Tiger Woods changed his swing shortly after winning the 1997 Masters. He didn't win another major tournament until 1999, but altering his swing laid the ground work for his "Tiger Slam across 2000 and 2001.

Curry is already one of the NBA's greatest ever shooter, and younger players are already looking to emulate his style. Perhaps the 33-year-old will manage to find a new level by failing to be content with the status quo.

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine credited Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green for being the NBA's ultimate "glue guy."

LaVine and Green struck up a friendship while playing for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics over the summer, and it allowed the Bulls star to see all of the little things the three-time NBA champion does to help teams win.

"You can really see why the Warriors are so good. He's the glue guy," LaVine told Marcus Thompson II and Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. "He's the one who makes everything run. At least that's my opinion. He looks out for everybody else before himself."

Although Stephen Curry is typically viewed as the engine that makes the Warriors run, Green's wide-ranging impact at both ends of the floor is equally important to the team's success.

LaVine witnessed a similar dynamic at the Olympics as Kevin Durant, a former teammate of Curry and Green in Golden State, was the Americans' go-to player, but it was Green who made sure everybody was moving in the right direction.

LaVine told The Athletic: 

"He was the best teammate you could have for a guy in our situation. He was the leader of the team. Obviously, we know KD was the best player. But without Dray, we wouldn't have won. He's the one who had everything [together] in every practice, watching film with the guys, making adjustments, giving guys confidence to come and play their game and just keeping everybody engaged."

Green is averaging 7.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 52.1 percent from the field during the Warriors' 11-1 start to the 2021-22 season.

While he's not going to contend for any NBA scoring titles, he does pretty much everything else on a basketball court. His impact on defense is especially important for the Warriors and could put him in contention to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award for a second time.

Green, 31, told The Athletic he's urged LaVine, 26, to keep chasing greatness, which goes beyond how many points show up in the box score each night:

"Greatness doesn't just happen on the floor. Greatness is in how you carry yourself. Greatness is how you interview. Greatness is how people deal with you. It's not just you can score 30 points on the basketball court. Greatness is how everybody else responds to your greatness, and if you don't require people to respond to your greatness, they won't."

Green and the Warriors scored a 119-93 victory over LaVine and the Bulls on Friday night. The teams don't face off again until mid-January.    

The 11-1 Golden State Warriors have won seven straight games after beating the visiting Chicago Bulls 119-93 in San Francisco's Chase Center on Friday.

Stephen Curry led all scorers with 40 points on 15-of-24 shooting (9-of-17 from three-point range) to lead a Warriors team that outscored the Bulls 63-33 over the second and third quarters.

He also passed Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen for the most three-pointers made all time (including playoffs) with this second-quarter bucket:

Curry did so in 585 fewer games, per Shane Young of Forbes:

The Bulls' starting lineup struggled mightily outside Zach Lavine (23 points, 10-of-17 shooting), combining to score just 29 points on 8-of-32 from the field. They played without center Nikola Vucevic (health and safety protocols).

The Warriors, who sport the league's best record, lead the Western Conference by 2.5 games over the 8-3 Phoenix Suns. The 8-4 Bulls dropped a half game behind the Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets for first in the Eastern Conference.

Notable Performances

Warriors PG Stephen Curry: 40 points, 5 assists

Warriors SF Andrew Wiggins: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals

Warriors PF Draymond Green: 9 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists

Bulls SG Zach LaVine: 23 points, 6 rebounds

Bulls PG Lonzo Ball: 5 points, 4 steals

Bulls SF DeMar DeRozan: 18 points, 5 assists

Warriors Blow Away Bulls in 2nd and 3rd Quarters

The Bulls got off to a great start, jumping out to a 24-14 lead before settling for a 29-23 advantage after 12 minutes.

Almost nothing went right for Chicago from that point forward as the Warriors ran the Bulls out of the Bay Area.

First, Andrew Wiggins scored eight points during a 10-2 second-quarter run that turned a 34-31 deficit into a 41-36 lead. This turnaround jumper punctuated the effort:

Wiggins came into this game on fire after dropping 35 points over his old team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, in a 123-110 win on Wednesday. His second-quarter effort proved to be the turning point in this contest.

Curry then took over in the third quarter, dropping 15 points and two assists as the Dubs outscored the Bulls 35-17 in that frame.

The two-time NBA MVP hit four three-pointers, including this one from the elbow for a 62-51 edge with 9:28 remaining in the third quarter.

Golden State continued to pour it on, and Curry added to that effort with this three for an 18-point lead:

In the second half, Anthony Slater of The Athletic wrote that the point guard had posted "pretty easy" 32 points on the night. The Warriors offense hummed after the first quarter with Curry at the helm. Plus, his shot was on point as usual.

"The ball enters the rim on Steph Curry jumpers with the same kind of precision and caution-for-water-disturbance that the best Olympic divers enter the water with—just barely a ripple of movement," New York Times best-selling author Shea Serrano wrote.

Curry ended up adding eight more points, and Slater contributed these notes:

The Warriors had another stress-free fourth quarter, which was commonplace when the Dubs won five straight Western Conference titles (and three NBA championships) from 2015-2019.

This season is only 12 games old, but this year's Warriors team looks championship-worthy even without Klay Thompson, who might be back by Christmas, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

If the five-time All-Star is anywhere close to his old form after missing the last two years due to injury, then everyone else might be playing for second this year.

Bulls Struggle Without Vucevic 

Chicago did not fare well without Vucevic, who has had a down year by his standards (13.6 points per game, 39.5 field-goal percentage, 10.9 rebounds). Still, he's a double-double machine that has helped turn the Bulls into an Eastern Conference contender.

Without him, Chicago struggled down low. Warriors center Kevon Looney had 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes, and the Bulls didn't get much production from anyone who manned the paint.

But Chicago didn't get much out of anyone outside of LaVine. DeRozan went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line but made just 4-of-13 field goals on a quiet night for the veteran. Ball was cold from three-point range (1-of-7) en route to a 2-of-11 evening.

LaVine didn't have his best game either, committing seven turnovers and finishing the night without an assist.

Overall, Golden State outscored Chicago 52-38 in the paint, 18-7 on fast-break opportunities and 24-15 off turnovers. Credit goes to the Warriors for putting on a masterpiece here.

The Bulls either needed to play lockdown defense or go blow-for-blow with the league's hottest team (and offense) to steal this one, and neither happened as the Warriors blew Chicago out.

What's Next?

The Warriors will play the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET in Spectrum Center, and the Bulls will visit Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Monday at 9:30 p.m.

The Golden State Warriors are off to a red-hot 9-1 start to the 2021-22 season, and they're not far off from getting All-Star reinforcement.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst discussed Thompson's recovery Tuesday on NBA Today, saying there's confidence in the organization that Thompson will return to form upon his return. 

"The whispers going around the league right now about Klay Thompson—people are watching him. People are talking to people in the Warriors organization, and they say he looks good," Windhorst said. "I'm not saying he's coming back and he's gonna be shooting 40 points in his first quarter. But he looks good working out, and there is a real confidence in there that—especially by the end of the season—Klay is going to be back back."   

No timetable has been given for Thompson's return. He has been playing 3-on-3 as he ramps up his activity level, but there has been no word on when he'll start playing 5-on-5 again.

"I'm feeling great," Thompson said last week on ESPN. "Just working every day like I have been the last two years and I'm playing 3-on-3 and just getting back into the tip-top game shape."

Thompson has missed the last two seasons with leg injuries, tearing his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals before suffering a ruptured Achilles while working out ahead of the 2020-21 campaign. There's no telling what type of player Thompson will be upon his return. The injuries he suffered are career-altering on their own, let alone one on top of another. It's hard to fathom a scenario where he returns immediately to All-Star form or even plays in any back-to-backs this season.

The Warriors are planning a careful approach to his recovery, but any lift he brings to the floor will be a boost for a team that's already exceeding expectations.