It took a few weeks of competition for a player to reach the 50-point barrier, and the author could not be other than Stephen Curry. The point guard brought out his most scoring version in the Hawks ‘visit to the Chase Center, which witnessed his umpteenth exhibition and the Warriors’ ninth victory in the ten games they have played, this by 127-113, which allows them to continue as leaders of the competition.
Steph was once again a scoring machine in every possible way, combining his agility in the dribble and movement, his speed and precision in the execution of the shot, and his unusual ability to score triples that, in the hands of another, would be bad releases. It was precisely from the triple from where he added the most, since he managed to convert 9 of the 19 perimeter shots he tried, and also achieved a perfect 13/13 from the free kick. In addition, he distributed 10 assists, captured 7 rebounds and stole 3 balls, signing a huge performance that gave the victory to some Warriors who needed something like this from their great reference.
And it is that, aside from Curry, it was not exactly a great night for Golden State. In fact, Steve Kerr’s men started with many doubts and with problems to contain the attack of the Hawks, who came to have quite comfortable advantages in the first half (40-55 in the middle of the second quarter). Steph’s 24 points at halftime managed to prevent the locals from falling far behind, as the Atlanta team, led by Young and Collins, started fantastic.
However, the third quarter gave a radical turn to the game that practically left it on track. The Warriors not only took the lead on the scoreboard, but with a 13-0 run in the last two minutes of the quarter they managed to gain a comfortable lead (102-85) that put them in the last period fully thrown and with the Hawks sunk by the way everything had slipped from their grasp in seconds. Curry scored 10 of the points in the quarter and assisted Bjelica to score the other 3, leading his team in a quarter that they won 41-20 and that practically put an end to the duel.
In the Hawks, Trae Young was the most outstanding man with 28 points and 9 assists, but after a great first half, in which 21 of his points came, he was remarkably off and with him the whole team. Similar was the case of John Collins, second in scoring with 19 goals of which only one came after the break.
(Cover photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
