It is not customary for a competition as promising and talented as the NBA that its stars have nights of negativity, failure and suffering.
But it happened. Neither Damian Lillard, who had won the first game with a spectacular performance in the final minutes, shone (6 points with 2/12 shooting), nor Victor Wembanyama (11 points, but loss against the Clippers by 123-83) with his landing in the League, nor the Los Angeles Lakers who filled their stars with minutes, but lost in overtime (132-127) against the brilliant Sacramento Kings.
Thank goodness for Stephen Curry. The Golden State Warriors point guard has been honouring the regular season for as long as he can remember.
In three nights he scored 30.7 points, shot 52% from the field, made 5.7 three-pointers per game – at a shooting percentage of 45% – and didn’t miss a single shot from the field.
He beat Houston with a decisive shot… in which he knocked out Dillon Brooks, one of the best and most controversial defenders on the planet.
And no one was talking about Curry…
The NBA of the 21 years of LeBron James, of the signings… and of the Golden State Warriors, even if they are no longer the team of the four rings.
They always compete and forget last year’s poor start to the regular season with Curry‘s early awakening.
His four three-pointers in the final quarter overwhelmed the Houston Rockets (95-106), scoring 24 points and 6/14 from long distance in 31 minutes of play. He needed no more.
It was the first substitute game of his life for Chris Paul, who drew praise from the locker room.
“It’s unbelievable the way he embraced being here from the beginning. From the very first moment. Kind of like what Andre Iguodala did all these years. When a veteran, great player, All-Star … shows that sacrifice and sets the tone for the whole team,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Stephen Curry and Chris Paul look like the new Splash Bros
Lillard’s dark night
Less of a party in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Bucks fell to the Atlanta Hawks (110-127), punished by the lack of success of their star signing, Damian Lillard.
He went from shining and winning at the buzzer at the beginning of the season to not finding himself. Six points, 16.7% accuracy, six losses and -29 in his plus-minus rating on the court.
That’s one of the problems with a player like that. He is capable of determining a team from the shooting game, but his mistakes are more costly due to his nature as a shooter. Nothing incendiary, he will have better nights and Milwaukee will shine again after suffering with Trae Young (20+11) and company.
Kings topple LeBron and Davis
It wasn’t LeBron James and Anthony Davis‘ night either. They played a lot in the game that went to overtime against the Sacramento Kings (132-127) but it was not enough.
The ‘King’ played 39 minutes, with 27 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists and ‘AD’ finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds in 42 minutes. Barbarities to be the third time of the year… and not get the prize.
Wembanyama in action
LeBron brought out his greatness and with a basket sent the game to overtime, but there they received a triple from Kevin Huerter and the brutal numbers of Sacramento‘s star, DeAaron Fox: 37 points, eight assists, 14/24 from the field and 15 up when he stepped on the court.
We already knew Wembanyama was going to lose a lot of games
They’re not smiling on Victor Wembanyama‘s San Antonio Spurs either. We knew they were going to lose a lot of games, even though the beatings hurt a lot.
The Los Angeles Clippers brought the Frenchman back down to earth in a game they were already leading by 19 points at half-time (56-37, 24′). Wembanyama was not at his best and set his numbers at 11 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes of play.
It was his first game away from home in his career and he was not good. Missing three-pointers (0/2), committing five turnovers and being outplayed by Kawhi Leonard (21 points) and Paul George (19), who, as long as their health holds out, will be a top-tier team. “We’ll learn,” summed up the Welsh prodigy after the game.
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