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Steph’s value to Warriors clear in two staggering stats originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Steph Curry has been on a torrid tear since the start of April, but you didn’t need me to tell you that.
The Warriors star has raised his game to another level, even higher than the one he reached during his unanimous NBA MVP since 2015-16 season. Whether or not that’s enough for him to win another award is a separate question, but he has paced Golden State at a ridiculous rate over the last month and change.
Curry has played in 20 games since April 1, leading the Warriors in scoring in all but one of those contests. If he leads Golden State in scoring Monday against the Utah Jazz, he’ll have done so for 10 consecutive games for the second time this season. From March 29 to April 19, Curry paced the Warriors in points in 11 consecutive games he played.
How’s this for context? At no point during the ’15-16 season did Curry lead the Warriors in scoring for more than nine straight games, and he only did so once. It sure helped having Klay Thompson at the peak of his powers, plus Draymond Green in the highest-scoring season of his career.
Since April 1, Curry’s averaging 37.5 points per game. That’s par for the course for the two-time MVP, but it’s worth remembering he’s five years older than when he last won the award.
As a 33-year-old, Curry’s last 20 games are unprecedented in NBA history.
Dominique Wilkins previously held the crown, averaging 34.1 points per game over a 20-game span during the 1992-93 season.
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Thanks to Curry, the Warriors are practically a lock for the play-in tournament, specifically the seventh or eighth seed. They would’ve been a playoff team in the NBA’s previous format, but that’s still probably just below whatever threshold NBA MVP voters have for the award. When Russell Westbrook won in ’16-17, for instance, his Oklahoma City Thunder were sixth in the Western Conference.
So even though Curry’s in the middle of the most impressive season of his career, it probably won’t be enough for him to win his third NBA MVP. Imagining where the Warriors would be without him this season, though, is a strong counterargument to that notion.
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