Ballin' : Steph Curry drops 62 points in win over Blazers

Two-time MVP Stephen Curry had himself a night Sunday as his 62-point performance set a new high in his career and in the history of Chase Center, while also leading the Warriors to a 137-122 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

But as Curry does, he did not boast but more so noted this game highlighted the squad’s ability to adapt and improve through the early part of the season. “Every game we’re going to get better,” said Curry following the win, “And more so just seeing the pictures of how (opposing teams) want to defend us and me individually.”

It was clear from the opening tip that Curry was going to be aggressive: he finished the first quarter with 21 points on 7-of-11 made from the field. But he was not splashing it from beyond the three-point line as Dub Nation may be accustomed to, with the guard cutting and driving to the bucket instead. By the end of the night, Curry’s effort got him to the line for 19 free throws, another career mark notched by the Warrior.

The only blemish on Curry’s night was his 18-of-19 line from the the charity stripe. That one miss ended Curry’s career-high of consecutive free throws made at 80 shots in a row.

The win came after suffering a defeat to the very same Trail Blazers just two nights prior, a unique feature of the shortened 2020-21 season schedule. Sunday’s game was a stark contrast to the Friday night tilt in which the Dubs were down by 15 come halftime on Friday. Instead, the Warriors were ahead 66-54 at the midway point on Sunday with Curry already at 31 points through the first 24 minutes of the game.

Besides Curry’s scoring outburst, all other Dubs in the starting lineup had better outputs compared to their Friday night performances.

Second overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft and 19-year-old James Wiseman finished the game with his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The rookie also added two blocks in his career night.

Andrew Wiggins finished second on the Dubs with 21 points and two blocks, and Kelly Oubre Jr. also added 17 points and two steals. Draymond Green, in just his second game back after not playing through the preseason or Warriors’ first four games, dished out eight assists.