https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/Anatomy-of-a-Steph-Curry-explosion-Why-16606497.php

Lost amid the whirlwind of his 50-point, 10-assist masterpiece Monday night, Stephen Curry marched around the court chirping “say it,” and a bunch of other stuff that was indistinguishable because he was chewing a mouthguard.

On cue, many fans at Chase Center chanted “M-V-P.”

Teammate Damion Lee upped the ante in his comments after the Warriors’ fifth straight double-digit win, a 127-113 victory over Atlanta, by saying Curry was already among the NBA’s best-ever 75 players — and might have risen to be on a list of the top 50, 25 or even 10.

By Tuesday, it was clear that Curry can make a claim for heading toward being chiseled into the Mount Rushmore of basketball.

Stats be told, Curry’s 50-and-10 game made him only the third in the Warriors’ franchise history with those numbers, joining Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain. Curry’s 10th career game with at least 50 points tied him with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Only Michael Jordan had more games of at least 45 points after the age of 32.

Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain. Those are the names, and none of them were getting better at 33.

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“It was just a stunning performance by Steph,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “He rises to the occasion over and over again, because he loves the challenge. You could see Steph’s competitiveness on full display.”

The Warriors’ opponents had gone a combined 39-64 (.379) heading into Tuesday’s games, but, among those, the Clippers and Hawks played in their respective conference finals last season. In games against those two opponents, Curry averaged 47.5 points on 53.1% 3-point shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals.

Curry took it to another level against the Hawks in the third quarter, when Atlanta had the audacity to defend him one-on-one with Kevin Huerter for a stretch. The two-time MVP totaled 18 points and five assists during the third, but during a 1:47 span, when no one was helping Huerter, it got serious.

There was an and-one, a 29-footer, a steal, four free throws, a rebound and an assist to a Juan Toscano-Anderson 3-pointer that put the Warriors, once down by 15, now ahead by 17. In a game that Curry had already done the “who knows?” Jordan retreat after a made 3-pointer and the Carl Landry biceps flex after a putback, Curry went into overdrive with his demonstrations.

He pounded his chest, seeming to forget about his “jammed” left shoulder, and saliva bounced from his mouthguard. He repeatedly yelled: “Say it.”

Wednesday’s game
Who: Minnesota (3-6) at Warriors (9-1)

When: 7 p.m.

TV/Radio: NBCSBA/95.7

He knew it was going to be one of those nights well before the third quarter.

Curry tried to explain getting into one of those zones that only a handful of people have ever felt. He said when he makes the first two shots, finds a rhythm, and the ball feels good coming off his hand, he knows there is a chance for an “explosion.”

“You come out in the third quarter, and that’s when you start to wait for that avalanche to fall,” Curry said. “It did..”

Actually, the anticipation should have started way earlier.

After shooting 40.7% from the floor — worse than his career 3-point shooting percentage — for the past five games, Curry’s pregame preparation with assistant coach Bruce Fraser focused on his shot and mechanics.

“I need you to have a little bit more conviction about when it’s time to shoot,” Curry recalled Fraser saying.

“It was just a little seed he planted.”

Curry, who has been congested, tired and had trouble breathing for the past week, scored the Warriors’ first 13 points, including taking a 10-2 lead in the opening 2 minutes, 10 seconds.

Andre Iguodala, who usually spends the opening five minutes prepping his 37-year-old body to get subbed into the game, rushed out of the Chase Center bowels when he heard that Atlanta called a timeout.

“After the first two minutes of the game, Andre comes out of the tunnel and just looks up,” Lee said. “‘Damn, he got 10 already?’”

Curry went on to score 40 points in his next 33 minutes, with the final two becoming the most difficult.

With 6:48 remaining in the fourth quarter, Curry had 48 points. He missed his next two 3-pointers and a runner as his teammates scurried to get him the ball.

Kerr told Curry: “It’s time to come out.” Curry nodded.

With a substitute at the scorer’s table, Curry dribbled through three Atlanta defenders and shot a floater over a fourth to get to 50.

“You never come out with a certain number in mind,” Curry said. “When you get it going, you just keep going.”

Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron