Kurtenbach: Steph Curry’s brilliant Game 4 should silence his haters forever
Golden State Warriors NBA Finals: Steph Curry's 43-point Game 4
performance saved the Warriors season, put Golden State in a position to
win the title and ended any debate about his greatness.
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 10: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) reacts after scoring a basket late in the fourth quarter of a
107-97 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at TD
Garden in Boston, Mass., on Friday, June 10, 2022, at TD Garden in
Boston, Mass. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 10: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry
(30) reacts after scoring a basket late in the fourth quarter of a
107-97 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at TD
Garden in Boston, Mass., on Friday, June 10, 2022, at TD Garden in
Boston, Mass. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: June 10, 2022 at 9:54 p.m. | UPDATED: June 11, 2022 at 3:07 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/10/kurtenbach-steph-currys-brilliant-game-4-should-silence-his-haters-forever/

BOSTON — Never question this man’s greatness again.

Ever.

Anyone with half a brain should have known that Steph Curry has been
above slander for a long, long time, but after his one-of-a-kind
performance in Game 4 of the NBA Finals Friday night in Boston, there is
no longer any room for interpretation or subjectivity.

Curry, one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA, took his
legend to a whole new level in the Warriors’ 107-97 win, which evened
the series at 2-2 and restored home-court advantage to Golden State in
the process.

It’s a level that puts him above reproach and the Warriors back in a
position to win the title.

The numbers will be etched in the memory of every Warriors fan for
decades to come — 43 points, 10 rebounds. The highlights will play on
loop for even longer.

But it was so much more than that. It was a rebalancing of a series that
was tilting away from the Dubs.

Boston is a better team than the Warriors, to a man.

But the Warriors have *the man* and he is so good he might be enough to
put a fourth banner in the rafters of Chase Center.

In these Finals, and especially in Game 4, the Warriors have needed
everything from Curry — who was playing on a sprained left foot.

He has given it to them, and so much more.

And how he is doing it makes it all the more impressive. It should
silence the haters — as deranged and nonsensical as they might be — forever.

The Warriors’ basketball culture is egalitarian, but that’s only
possible because of Curry and the space he creates with the defensive
attention he demands. Curry’s impact is felt not only in his play, but
in the play of his teammates, too. This is lost on far too many
basketball fans — the box score can only tell so much of the story with
Curry.

But in this series, against Boston’s defensive length, the Warriors
cannot play their preferred, downright perfected style of offense. They
have to go against their principles, their ideals and play a realpolitik
style — high pick-and-roll with Curry.

It’s all on his shoulders.

And even with the bum foot, he’s carrying the weight with stunning grace
and deadly efficiency.

Contrary to popular belief, Curry has been marvelous in the Warriors’
five prior trips to the NBA Finals.

But this, so far, is his best Finals performance to date. He has made
25-of-51 3-point attempts. How is that even possible?

He’ll be the unanimous NBA Finals MVP should the Warriors win the
series. He might even go Jerry West and win the award if the Warriors lose.

And Friday night, given the stage and the circumstance, was arguably the
finest Finals game he has ever played.

It’s certainly in the pantheon of Game 3 of the 2019 Finals — a 47-point
performance (albeit in a loss) — and Games 5 of both 2015 and 2017.

“Just stunning,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The physicality out
there is, you know, pretty dramatic. I mean, Boston’s got obviously the
best defense in the league — huge and powerful at every position, and
for Steph to take that kind of pressure all game long and still be able
to defend at the other end when they are coming at him shows you, I
think this is the strongest physically he’s ever been in his career, and
it’s allowing him to do what he’s doing.”

“The heart on that man is incredible,” Klay Thompson said. “You know,
the things he does we kind of take for granted from time to time, but to
go out there and put us on his back, I mean, we got to help him out on
Monday. “

The ridiculous knock on Curry has been that he has “too much help” and
that he “can’t get it done in the clutch.”

What can those people say now?

>RELATED ARTICLES
Photos: Curry wills Warriors to Game 4 win
LeBron James leads the world of sports in heaping praise on Warriors’
Steph Curry
Warriors’ Wiggins continues stellar postseason with career-best
rebounding effort in Game 4
Possible WNBA Bay Area expansion comes with complicated ownership choice
Kurtenbach: The Warriors are clutch, Boston is not and that gives
Golden State a clear edge in these even NBA Finals

The Warriors are holding their breath, hoping they don’t lose the game
in any of the moments Curry is on the bench in this series.

And on Friday, Curry won the Warriors the game while everyone but Andrew
Wiggins and Kevon Looney struggled. Now, both players have been
marvelous, but that duo is not exactly McHale and Parrish, Pippen and
Rodman or Durant and Thompson.

The Warriors trailed Game 4 94-92 with 4:30 to play.

Golden State went on a 14-3 run to close the game, with Curry scoring or
creating the Warriors’ last four field goals.

Don’t pretend as if Boston wasn’t all over him, either. Derrick White
was playing really good defense on Curry. The Celtics were still sending
double-teams.

But because of that man — *the man* — the Warriors now have a chance to
win the title. A good chance, too. It’s a three-game series, with Games
5 and 7 in San Francisco.

Curry found a way. Greatness always does.