Getty LeBron James jokes with Dwyane Wade after the latter's final NBA game.
There’s big-time performances and then there’s what Stephen Curry did for the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. With his team locked into a knock-down, drag-out fight to avoid ceding a 3-1 Finals lead to the Boston Celtics, Steph hit a gear that people like Skip Bayless have claimed isn’t there.
He entered beast mode down the stretch and all but ensured that the Warriors didn’t lose Game 4.
In 41 minutes of play, Steph dropped a whopping 43 points on 14-of-26 shooting, hitting seven threes and adding 10 rebounds and four assists for good measure. And he got better as the game went along, scoring 24 of his 43 in the second half and 10 during the decisive final frame.
Curry was so good, in fact, that a pair of multi-time NBA champions and future Hall of Famers were moved to rave about his performance via Twitter. Namely, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
Steph Gets Shouted Out
As if Curry’s emphatic response to detractors like Bayless wasn’t enough, Wade — who some consider one of the game’s all-time clutch heroes — dropped the following endorsement of the baller:
“Everyone keeps talking about what Steph ain’t. Let’s talk about what he is. A BAD MFer!”
That tweet prompted LeBron to respond: “FACTS!!! ‘THEY’ will try to do anything in their powers to not acknowledge simply how ‘DIFFERENT’ he is! It’s Rare and rare is not liked & appreciated.”
King James also tweeted: “Chef is INSANE!!!”
Of course, LeBron has said a lot of good things about Golden State recently. On the latest episode of HBO’s The Shop: Uninterrupted, the GOAT candidate declared that Dubs and Miami Heat would be his top picks out of all this year’s playoff clubs to join forces with, if he was changing teams.
The former Heat duo also engaged in a back and forth that served as a stern warning for the Celtics, should they hope to prevail in the championship bout.
“Bad shot selection vs GS = [skull emoji],” wrote James, to which Wade responded: “From here on…it will be all about the little things.”
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Steph’s Finals MVP Case Growing by the Day
The fact that Curry, for all his greateness and accrued accolades, has never been recognized as the NBA Finals MVP has been a point of contention for nay-sayers. If the Dubs are able to win two out of the next three games and secure their fourth title of the current era, it will be nigh impossible to pass him over again.
Through four Finals games, Curry is averaging 34.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists with shooting splits of 50-49-86. Meanwhile, the Warriors have outscored the Celtics by 5.2 points per 100 possessions when he has been on the court.
Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Steph is now the odds-on favorite to take home the trophy as a -150 bet. Jayson Tatum is the No. 2 pick at +200, followed by Jaylen Brown at +650.
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