Steph Curry Dropped 51 Points Including 11 Threes On The Wizards In Three Quarters

Steph Curry is the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history, and on Wednesday night he made sure to remind everyone of that.

The Washington Wizards dropped by Oracle Arena and were treated rudely by their host, as Curry exploded for 23 points in the first quarter, putting on a shooting exhibition that really only he can. Curry was hitting threes every way imaginable against Washington early and you got the feeling it was going to be one of those nights in Oakland.

Sure enough, Curry kept on cooking, and by the end of three quarters he had 51 points and 11 made three-pointers for the sixth time in his career. No one else in NBA history has more than one game with 11 made threes.

The sequence that was most emblematic of the night, and really of Steph in general, was on this third quarter break when he tried to throw a lob to Kevin Durant, but it got deflected back to him by Bradley Beal on a great defensive effort. Curry calmly corralled the ball, stepped back to the three-point line, whirled around and drilled a three as he got fouled, leaving Beal exasperated and turning what was going to be two points on the lob into four points, because you just couldn’t leave well enough alone.

Curry is the most maddening player in the league to defend on nights like this, because there’s simply nothing you can do to stop him even though you feel like you should be able to. It’s not like LeBron or Giannis or Anthony Davis or Embiid who on some nights are just physically dominating you. It’s a guy launching 30-footers that don’t even so much as sniff the rim and then chuckling and shimmying as he gets back on defense.

Unfortunately, the Warriors always have championships to think about, so we never get to see Curry (or Klay Thompson) fully unleashed when they have it going like this. Curry sat for the fourth quarter to the chagrin of Oracle and everyone watching at home. It’s probably the right move long-term, but just once I’d love to see Steve Kerr let them go for a full 48 when someone’s cooking.

Still, 51 points is a pretty nice effort for 32 minutes, and before we chalk up the MVP race to a battle between Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, let’s not forget the two-time league MVP in Oakland. The question may simply be whether he’s rested too much to win.