SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry did a bunch of Steph Curry things.
Scored, rebounded, passed, defended. Yes, defended.
Ran all over the court, making an impact offensively and defensively. Yes, defensively.
Thrilled the home crowd with his 3-point shooting.
He had 29 points, six boards, four assists and three steals, his performance in Game 2 of the NBA Finals leading the Golden State Warriors to a 107-88 victory against the Boston Celtics, evening the best-of-7 series at 1-1.
“He was incredible, and most importantly, his decision-making was great,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “He got off the ball. He didn’t drive into traffic. He took what the defense gave him.”
In the Warriors’ 35-14 third quarter, Curry had 14 points, made three 3-pointers and was a major factor during a 19-2 run late in the quarter that busted open a six-point game and made it an 87-64 Warriors lead headed into the final frame.
GAME 2: Warriors finish off Celtics this time to even NBA Finals at 1-1
DUST-UP: Did Draymond deserve second technical for incident with Brown?
“Steph was breathtaking in that quarter,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Not just the shot making, but the defensive effort. He just doesn’t get enough credit for his level of conditioning, physicality and defense.”
As much as Curry’s offense is often the talk, his coach and teammates wanted to rave about his defense.
“People go at him to try to wear him down because they know how important he is to us offensively, and it’s pretty dramatic the difference in Steph’s strength and physicality in his body now than from eight years ago when I first got here,” Kerr said. “So the guy’s amazing. He just keeps working on his game, his strength, his conditioning year after year, and it’s a pleasure to watch him play every night.”
Teams have tried to pick on Curry defensively for years, and the Celtics want to get Curry in as many mismatches — both size and strength — as possible with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and even Marcus Smart. But the Warriors believe he is a capable defender.
Story continues
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Players, coaches wear ‘End Gun Violence’ shirts
SPORTS NEWSLETTER: Get the latest news and analysis in your inbox
“I’ve been talking about it the last couple years, how much he’s improved on that side of the ball,” Green said. “Teams used to try to call him into every action and just try to pick on him. That doesn’t work anymore. He sits down, he guards and we all are there behind him if he does need help. But he hasn’t been needing that often, and it’s great.
“I’ve spoken about how much stronger he is. He’s able to hold his ground, so you’re not able to bump him off his spot, and that’s been huge for us. I’m not shocked he’s playing that type of defense. He’s been doing that, like I said, for the last couple years.”
The Warriors believe Curry has the strength and stamina to play both ends of the floor at a high level every game. Curry, who has not won a Finals MVP, is averaging 31.5 points and shooting 46.2% on 3s through two games. He was so disappointed about the Game 1 loss, he said he lost sleep.
“If you’re not down about it, if you’re not in your feelings, that’s a problem because then it doesn’t matter,” Curry sad. “It has to. You have to feel it.”
After two games of this series, it’s clear the Warriors need Curry to carry the offensive load more than he has in past Finals when they also had Kevin Durant and a different Klay Thompson.
Steph Curry scored a game-high 29 points for the Warriors.
In this series, Thompson’s offense isn’t there yet as he’s just 49 games back from knee and Achilles injuries that sidelined him for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. Jordan Poole playing in his first NBA Finals might not be reliable enough each game. It’s a mishmash of scoring from several players.
The offense falls on Curry more than it ever has.
“This year, there’s definitely a need for me to be aggressive throughout the game, to create, draw attention, get shots up and just continue to apply pressure,” Curry said. “Obviously, the first two games, it’s gone well. I don’t know what it will look like on the road, rest of the series. It’s just always about being confident with the ball in my hands and make plays.”
We know Curry can score like this. In 30 career Finals games, he’s averaged 26.8 points, and he had 34 in Boston’s Game 1 victory.
“Our offense is always a lot of Steph,” Green said. “It all starts with Steph. When KD was here, our offense still started with Steph. That’s the way it’s going to be.”
If Curry had an off night in previous Finals, the Warriors had much more dynamic scoring with Durant and Thompson. Can the Warriors keep winning while asking so much from Curry?
Kerr doesn’t think it’s an issue.
“We’re perfectly capable of winning games where Steph doesn’t have a huge night,” Kerr said. “Just means other guys have got to step up and score for us. But that’s something they have done all year.”
Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steph Curry’s offense isn’t the talk of NBA Finals: ‘Guy’s amazing’
