Warriors Rewind: 10 Thoughts on Warriors 130 Magic 114

In the waning seconds of the third period, Stephen Curry sank a shot from half court to give himself 24 points for the quarter. The cameras caught the MVP laughing boisterously after the shot banked in and increased the Warriors’ advantage to nine points. Perhaps Steph was laughing because it was a lucky shot, or perhaps he was laughing because it’s comically absurd for a man that stands only 6’3″ to thoroughly dominate a game of giants. Whatever the case, Warriors fans were just as amused, laughing at another ridiculous performance by Curry (51 points), in the midst of a ridiculous season (52-5 record), during a ridiculous quest for 70-plus wins and back-to-back championships. These are fun(ny) times to cheer for Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

Here are 10 thoughts on the game:

1) There were most likely other Warriors playing in the game on Thursday but it was difficult to notice with Curry’s electric brilliance lighting up the Magic. The MVP showed little sign of fatigue on the second game of a back-to-back. One night after dropping 42 points to lead the Warriors to a come-from-behind victory against the Heat, Curry outdid himself against the Magic stuffing the stat sheet with 51 points (on a scintillating 20-of-27 shooting), 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 block. The MVP got whatever he wanted on offense. When defenders tried to body him and take away his shot, he feasted on the overplay for backdoor layups. When they backed off him to take away the drive, Steph casually sank 10 three-pointers while missing only 5. On some nights there’s just no stopping Curry, and unfortunately for the rest of the NBA those nights are becoming more common while remaining as absurd as ever.

2) The Magic played a competitive game and held an 80-80 tie with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter. But then Steph took over on a barrage of threes and layups and you could see the life leave the Magic players.

3) The Anderson Varejao project is still a little wobbly on defense (he looks unsure and a step slow on rotations and is a bit too lurchy on fakes) but he’s obviously a fine passer and has the timing down on rolls to the basket (he got an and-1 on a nice screen-and-roll with Curry in the third). Now if he could just stop gambling for steals.

4) Mo Speights may not be playing at the same level as last year, but the man stays ready and never complains. One night after registering a DNP-CD to make room for newcomer Varejao, Speights came off the bench versus the Magic for 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in only 12 minutes.

5) Lebron who?

6) Trading away 23-year-old Tobias Harris for Jennings, Ilyasova and a handful of beans wasn’t my favorite transaction of the year, but the move did open up a starting spot for San Jose native Aaron Gordon (19 points, 8 rebounds) who’s averaging a tidy 10 and 11 in his last 5 outings. If/when Gordon can consistently hit from 18-feet and out he’s going to be devastating, similar to when young Blake Griffin developed a jumper.

7) Steph Stat 1: With 25 games remaining, Curry’s 266 made-threes have him in fifth place for most three-pointers in a season. He’s only 21 away from first place, a record he set last year. He’s on pace to make 401.

8) Steph Stat 2: Curry shoots at a 45% clip on shots between 25 and 29 feet. From 30 feet and out, he’s even more accurate having made 10 of 21 attempts.

9) Steph Stat 3: Curry averages more points per game on three-pointers alone (14.4) than Tony Parker, Deron Williams and Elfrid Payton average in total.

10) I’ll let Steve Kerr have the final thought. Speaking to reporters after the game, the coach had this to say about Curry: “A three-point shot is like a layup, a half court shot is like a three-point shot. It’s what he does.”