With a spectacular winning shot in the last second, the first of his career, Stephen Curry avoided another humiliating loss for the Golden State Warriors against the Houston Rockets on Friday, on a day in which the Lakers took a breather against the Magic.
A day after their unexpected loss to the Indiana Pacers’ alternates, the Warriors were one step away from upsetting their fans again on Friday against the Rockets, the worst team in the Western Conference.
Curry, with 22 points and 12 assists, saved the ridicule with a basket in the last second that made it 105-103 for the Warriors, second in the West.
The point guard, three-time NBA champion and two-time MVP (Most Valuable Player), is the best shooter in the history of the league and one of its most talented figures, but until now he had not scored the shot that decided a game on the Horn.
"It’s about time I made one! It’s the first thing I do"Curry, 33, said with a happy cry.
The Rockets dominated for much of the game taking advantage of Curry’s weak start, who had 6 points at halftime with 1/9 shooting from the field.
Little by little the Warriors were overcoming the deficit, which reached 15 points, until reaching a tight end in which, tied at 103, Garrison Mathews missed a triple for Houston with 5.1 seconds to go.
On the final possession, Curry drove to the basket, took a step back to distance himself from his defender and nailed the 20-foot shot that set the Chase Center euphoric.
Curry ran across the track until he was stopped by his teammates to celebrate the victory while the Rockets players witnessed the scene stunned.
"This whole party was crazy"Curry acknowledged. "Back and forth, we were kind of stuck in the mud and trying to find our way out. Everybody contributed. Everything has been competition and a bit of claw".
The Lakers take a breath
Under heavy pressure, the Los Angeles Lakers gave themselves a reprieve on Friday with a 116-105 victory over the Orlando Magic, the last seed in the East.
The Los Angeles coach, Frank Vogel, came into the match heavily questioned after four defeats in the previous five games.
Vogel again experimented with different quintets on the court but, unlike Wednesday’s loss to the Pacers, he didn’t opt to sit out the controversial Russell Westbrook in the closing minutes.
Westbrook, who did not want to attend to the press after his substitution against the Pacers, finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
"I was upset about it", acknowledged the base on his reaction after the defeat on Wednesday. "More for not winning the game, which was the most important thing".
"I have done everything that has been asked of me since I got here", stressed the MVP of the 2017 season. "Frank decided what he thought was best. My part as a player and a professional is to do my job and find ways to impact for victory and that’s what I tried to do tonight.".
For his part, LeBron James had 29 points and supported the team in several difficult moments in the first half.
Bulls lose East lead
In another of the 11 games of the day, the Milwaukee Bucks suffered to beat the Chicago Bulls 94-90, who left the leadership of the East in the hands of the Brooklyn Nets.
Led by DeMar DeRozan, who had 35 points, the Bulls held on to the reigning champions despite the absence of the injured Zach Lavine and Lonzo Ball.
The Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo, with 30 points and 12 rebounds, and his squire Khris Middleton, with 16 and 10, led the Bucks that appear at the top of the East after an irregular start to the campaign.
In his turn, the Memphis Grizzlies won 122-118 at the Denver Nuggets track in a duel between two candidates for the MVP award.
Serbian Nikola Jokic, still owner of the award, signed his fourth consecutive triple double with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for the Nuggets.
Ja Morant, the star of the Grizzlies, reached 38 points and 6 assists.
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