LeBron James On Stephen Curry: “One Of the Best Shooters The NBA Will Ever See”

Stephen Curry went off on Thursday night in Miami, and the Heat could only shake their heads and extol his virtues as a shooter before moving on to the next game. For Dubs fans, it wasn’t surprising, but the 2-time defending champion Heat were blown away after Curry went 8-of-15 from three-point land on his way to 36 points and 12 assists in Golden State’s 123-114 win at American Airlines Arena.

Only two players had scored at least 35 points and dished a dozen dimes against Miami: Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan. Now Curry can join that exalted list, and the world’s greatest player, LeBron James, said as much in his post-game comments:

“He controlled the tempo of the game,” James said. “One of the best shooters the NBA will see. The light he has is more than green — it’s florescent.”

“At one point, he was 7 of 13 from the three-point line and I was 7 of 12 from the field,” James said — though Curry was actually 7-of-12 from behind the three-point line at the end of the third quarter, the same shooting line as James at that point in the game.

“If he wasn’t making shots, he was making assists,” James said. “He definitely controlled the game.

“Guys that can really shoot the ball like him, you just have to hope he missed.”

But James wasn’t the only member of the Heat singing Curry’s praises after his big night:

Dwyane Wade said, “There’s nothing you can do when that guy’s on fire.

“A lot of times we were in his jersey, and he still made it. He’s special. That’s why that team has a shot to come out of Western Conference.”

“He’s an unbelievable shooter,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He put on a clinic tonight.”

“He’s a special player,” the Heat’s Shane Battier added. “He’s a guy you can win with, and win big with.”

“You can’t defend that,” Mario Chalmers said. “He hit a lot of tough shots.”

Said [Chris] Bosh: “Curry made us a little hesitant. Sometimes he shot it, sometimes he passed it, which makes it equally dangerous.”

David Lee also had a hand in Golden State’s big road win — their seventh straight and eighth in nine games since Andre Iguodala came back from his strained hamstring. Lee had 34 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

What did you think of Curry’s hot-shooting night?

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