Curry on Game 7: 'I need to play my best game of the year, if not my career'
Warriors superstar Stephen Curry understands what has to be done on Sunday
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2 min read
Stephen Curry knows that all eyes are on him, and he's OK with that. The Golden State Warriors guard has won MVP in consecutive seasons, this year unanimously, and after Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James has scored 41 points in each of the last two games, there is an expectation that Curry will respond in kind. A day before Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Curry did not shy away from those expectations, but he said it would not simply be about putting points on the board.
"I need to play my best game of the year, if not my career, because of what the stakes are," Curry said Saturday. "That doesn't mean score 50 points, though. That means control the tempo of the game, when I need to be aggressive -- I need to be aggressive but when I need to push the envelope, do it, but do it under control, do it within the schemes that we're used to as a team, focus on details on both ends of the floor. All of those things go into having a great game. And I need to do that."
It is easy to look at this series as the Steph vs. LeBron show. These are the two biggest superstars in the sport, and their teams rely on them to lead and dominate. What makes both of them special, though, is that they are more than scorers.
Curry affects the game just by being a threat, and for all of the crazy shots he takes, he is a great passer and recognizes how to bend defenses to create opportunities for his teammates. James has always been a cross between a point guard and a power forward. Neither of them can win without getting some help.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr dismissed the idea that Curry needed to try to take over and lift them to a second straight championship.
"No, no, no," Kerr said. "I mean, he's a great player and we need him to play well, but you can't say it's on you to anybody. It's a team game. We rely on a lot of people. It'd be nice if everybody played well, but we've won games so many different ways this year. Just as Cleveland has. Lots of different people stepping up and making shots and making plays.
"If you look at the history of this league, it's littered with Game 7s that were won with unlikely shots by unlikely heroes, that kind of thing," Kerr continued. "The main thing is take care of the details. Play hard, enjoy it, but let's not give up the easy stuff. Let's not get beat back door. Let's box out, let's get our transition defense in order. You take care of all that stuff, and then it's a roll of the dice. Shots go in, shots don't."
Kerr added that he just wants his best player to be himself. To Curry's credit, he seems to understand that, even as he is saying that he needs to perhaps play the game of his life. Curry said he knows that he is mentally and physically prepared for the game, and he called Golden State a resilient team. If he's going to give the Warriors' season a storybook ending, he must have the same approach he has had throughout.
