Stephen Curry turns on heat as Golden State Warriors beat Houston Rockets to lead NBA West finals 3-0
Guard scores 40 points after going on a three-point frenzy as his team take control of the series
Golden State coach Steve Kerr described Stephen Curry's performance simply. "Steph was Steph," Kerr said. Indeed.
The MVP did what he does best, using his extraordinary three-point shooting to power a 40-point game and the Warriors made it look easy against Houston, beating the Rockets 115-80 to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
"He's had a brilliant season," Kerr said. "The shooting is hard to describe because I don't think we've ever seen anybody shoot the ball the way Steph does off the dribble, off the catch."
He's had a brilliant season. The shooting is hard to describe because I don't think we've ever seen anybody shoot the ball the way Steph does off the dribble, off the catch
The Warriors won the first two games by just five points combined. There would be no such drama in this one, with Curry leading them to a 26-point advantage in the second quarter.
Now the baby-faced MVP has Golden State one victory away from their first trip to the NBA finals since they won the 1975 title. Game four is tomorrow morning (Hong Kong time) in Houston.
"We understand it's a special moment, it's just we're wrapped up in our day-to-day grind of preparing for games and going out and exerting all the effort we need to make this story happen," Curry said. "So it's hard to remove yourself from those emotions."
MVP runner-up James Harden finished with 17 points behind 10-of-11 free-throw shooting, but made just three of 16 shots as the Rockets dropped three straight for the first time all season.