Chef Curry was cooking on Beale Street.
Stephen Curry delivered another performance for the ages on Tuesday night, dropping 52 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the free-falling Memphis Grizzlies 134-125, who dropped to 0-3 under their interim coach Tuomas Iisalo.
The 37-year-old was in his bag, hitting 12 three-pointers in the contest. It is the 15th 50-point game of Curry’s Hall of Fame career, tied for sixth all time with the Milwaukee Bucks Damian Lillard.
Curry’s final stat line was 52 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and a block, and he surpassed the logo Jerry West to move up to 25th in the NBA’s all-time scoring lists.
“I got a little emotional about that,” Curry said of passing West. “It was special. In his memory. What he meant to our organization, the league, to the world of basketball. … That’s the logo.”
The victory moved Golden State past Memphis into fifth place in the Western Conference and benefitted the Warriors in two ways. Golden State won the season series 3-1, for all intents and purposes, giving them a two-game cushion over the Grizzlies in the standings.
Curry said he felt rejuvenated after taking a week off late in March, recovering from a left pelvic bruise. He is still wearing a pad to protect the injury, but the time away from the game cleared his mind and helped him physically.
Embed from Getty Images“I feel in a good rhythm,” he said. “The week off helped. The tank is pretty full.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has been around and played with the best, characterized Curry’s performance as “incredible.” Kerr, who has seen plenty of Curry’s spectacular nights could not believe what he had just seen, one shot in the second quarter, turning away from the court in disbelief.
“Fifty-two points with people draped all over him, all game long,” Kerr said, later adding: “I’ve been watching this for 11 years, and actually longer before I became his coach. … You get a real sense of just the magnitude of his talent.
“The guy is amazing to watch.”
The game-changing Jimmy Butler added 27 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Warriors.
Ja Morant had a team-high 36 points for Memphis, whose slide down the standings continues with a fourth consecutive loss.
