We are in serious danger of becoming jaded when it comes to watching Stephen Curry. While remarkable for anyone else, the 46 points he scored against the Minnesota Timberwolves was about what we now expect out of Curry on a nightly basis.
The Warriors got off to a scorching start, putting up 75 points in the first half. Unsurprisingly, Curry led the charge for that first-half explosion, scoring 21 points in the first quarter alone. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, he’d already posted 30 on the young Timberwolves.
Most games with 30 Pts in first 3 quarters this season:
1. Stephen Curry – 5 times
T2. James Harden – 1 time
T2. Blake Griffin – 1 time— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 13, 2015
Curry was an incredibly efficient 15-25 from the field, including 8-13 from deep. That’s a remarkable night for anyone else in the league. For Curry, it’s become par for the course. It didn’t matter who the Timberwolves threw at the reigning MVP, there was simply no disturbing his rhythm. Curry now has 52 made threes already this season, which is more than that three-happy San Antonio Spurs have as an entire team.
3's Made:
Jazz 57
Raptors 56
Celtics 54
Wizards 54
Steph Curry 52
Spurs 52
Grizzlies 42
Timberwolves 40
Nets 33https://t.co/K9AkKMdP3B— Josh Eberley 🇨🇦 (@JoshEberley) November 13, 2015
Last year, if he had the ball knocked out of his hands mid-air but still managed to make a three-pointer, we would have jumped out of our seats, yelling and screaming as if possessed by some otherworldly spirit. When he did that on Thursday night against Andre Miller, the general reaction was more “oh, of course he made that” and less “HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE DO THAT?”
Extraordinary plays like this are becoming ordinary, and it’s throwing our expectations totally off-kilter.
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I imagine it’s a bit like the difference between seeing the Northern Lights for the first time and living in a place where they’re a fairly common occurrence. The absolutely breathtaking swirls and streams of color snaking lazily through the sky must eventually become just more pretty lights at night if you live in, say, Norway or Alaska. They’re no less beautiful, just a bit less mesmerizing.
That’s absurd, obviously, but that’s what happens when the miraculous becomes commonplace – when the pyramids of Giza are right outside your convenience store, when you eat at the park by the Sagrada Familia every day, when you see Steph Curry hit absurd shots game after game after game.
