On Sunday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors joined Carmelo Anthony (2014), Kobe Bryant (2005), Tracy McGrady (2004) and Wilt Chamberlain (six times) as the fifth member of the NBA’s 62-point club.
Curry went 18-of-31 from the field (8-16 3PT, 18-19 FT) as the Warriors beat the Blazers 137-122 at Chase Center with nearly no one in attendance to see the feat.
“Cue the Jordan meme, right? I take all that personally,” Curry said during a postgame video conference with reporters. “I love it. I love everything about what this game offers, the competitiveness and the fire. I never run from it. Just excited to be in that atmosphere where I get to play at the highest level and do what I do.”
Curry’s performance was likely at least partially motivated by the Warriors (3-3) losing to the Blazers by 25 points on Friday night. In addition to his 62 points, Curry finished the big win with five rebounds, four assists and five turnovers.
Damian Lillard, who had 34 points for Portland in Friday’s win and 32 in Sunday’s loss, has scored 61 points in his career, twice, but never 62. Following Curry’s breakout performance, he paid his respects to the former MVP on the court and then again on social media.
After the final whistle on Sunday, Golden State coach Steve Kerr jokingly gave the game ball to rookie James Wiseman in honor of his first double-double, before the ball was delivered to Curry.
“It’s crazy,” Wiseman, who had 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, said of Curry’s performance. “It reminded me of 2K because I used to play with Steph all the time and I used to drop like 60. So just like actually watching it personally, that was phenomenal. He’s a legend, so just watching in person, it was great.”
Thanks to the explosion, Curry (32.3 points per game) is now second in the league in scoring behind James Harden (37.0) of the Rockets. Bradley Beal (30.6) of the Wizards, Kevin Durant (28.2) of the Nets and Trae Young (28.2) of the Hawks round out the top five.
With fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson lost for the season, Curry will need to continue scoring in bunches for the Warriors to stay in contention in an ultra-competitive Western Conference.
Both 5-2 on the season, the LA Clippers and Phoenix Suns currently lead in the West. Golden State is tied with Portland, Sacramento and Houston for sixth place in the conference.
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