Stephen Curry came out with a vengeance in the Warriors’ 131-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
On Friday’s episode of the “The Draymond Green Show,” the Warriors forward recalled how the trash talk during Golden State’s home loss to Indiana during the 2022-23 NBA season might have incentivized Curry to drop 42 points behind a season-high 11 3-pointers in Thursday’s win over the Pacers.
“I thought last night was very interesting,” Green said. “If you remember, last year, Andrew Nembhard had a great game against us. 31 points, here [Chase Center]. And then, they beat us on the road there and the young fellas were talking crazy.
“I respect it. I love young guys who are like, ‘Man, you think you this, and I know you that, but I’m not bowing down to that and I don’t respect that. And I’m going to treat you like I don’t respect that.’
“And that’s exactly how Nembhard and all of those young guys were acting last year. [I] tip my hat to them. As I think I mentioned in this podcast last year when we were talking about those guys, I respect that because that was the type of time I was on when I came in.
“I told you all last year when I was talking about those guys, they were talking crazy. They won. [You] got to respect it. I think Steph Curry took that personal.”
Just days removed from dropping a whopping 60 points against the Atlanta Hawks on the road, Curry hit the ground firing on all cylinders in Indiana, ending the first quarter having made all six of his three point attempts.
There was no stopping Curry on Thursday.
“As you can see, he came out last night in complete menace mode, absolute menace mode from the gate,” Green explained. “He was locked in. Some of the threes he shot to start the game …
“When he comes out shooting like that with just no concious, I already know what type of time it is. And I enjoy those games. In particular, I try to get the hell out of the way. You know, sometimes Steph has those games and you just sit back.”
By the time the half-time buzzer sounded, the four-time NBA champion had amassed 29 points on a near-perfect first-half.
There was nothing for Green to do but to soak in the moment of Curry’s greatness.
“And for me personally, I get a front-row, like better-than-courtside seat to watch it,” Green said. “My goal and my job is to get the hell out of the way and watch him work. It is a fun thing to do every now and then to toss him a little screen in there. Boom. Every now and then you toss him a little dime. Boom.
“But he was so off the dribble last night, and that’s how I knew he was in menace mood because everything was off the dribble. Like, ‘I don’t need a screen, for real. I’m not running off no pin downs, for real.’ It was just complete menace mode. He had 11 threes. I think three of them might not have been off the dribble.
“So, that kind of gives you a sense of where Steph Curry was.”