Early Lead Curry and Thompson’s blunder leaves Warriors Coach smiling

By Nick Martin March 26 at 12:00 PM

For the most part, the Warriors have been consistent in all they do this year. That includes everything from draining 3-pointers, to celebrations, to simply winning games. Friday, two of these things came back to bite Golden State and left Coach Steve Kerr chuckling on the sideline.

Warriors guard Steph Curry has made his name in the league and around the world with both his ridiculous shot selection and shot percentage — he’s matching a career high with by shooting 45.3 percent, or 348 of 769, from long range this season. Both the shot attempt and shots converted are single-season career high for Curry as well.

With such a high rate of success, especially when the reigning MVP is left open, the following sequence makes sense, in a way.

Klay Thompson, overly confident Curry would drain the triple to put the Warriors up 14, celebrated and was ready to get back on defense. The plan would have worked had the ball not collided off his hip and then been thrown out of bounds.

It’s rare that Curry passes up a wide open shot from behind the arc from anywhere, let alone an opportunity to set so close to the corner. Thompson’s reaction holds true to the way in which the Warriors have functioned all year, and it can be viewed as either arrogant or confident, depending on who you ask. Regardless, Thompson’s premature celebration is one grounded in the fact that Curry has already broken his own single-season 3-pointers made record and is well on his way to setting a new standard.

All of that does not stop the play from happening, of course, and Kerr and Curry both could not help but laugh at the play. Curry smiled while he spoke to reporters about the blunder. Per ESPN:

“I thought he was hotter than I was at the time, so I wanted to give it up,” Curry said. “Bad decision.”

These plays are not new to Golden State. The most notable, and comical, instance came in a March 8 win against the Orlando Magic. Leading 21-12 with 3:38 left in the first quarter, Andrew Bogut knocked the ball to a waiting Curry on the wing. Bogut then preceded to trot down the court, raising both of hands as Curry lined up and drained his shot.

The Warriors defeated the Magic Friday, 128-120. Curry dropped 33 points for the second consecutive game and Thompson poured in 40 of his own to push Golden State’s record to 65-7.