Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have one more chance this season. One last shot to make basketball history. The reigning NBA MVP has one final game, one contest remaining in his effort to lead his team in the 2016 NBA Finals and power them to a win. One last win, a win that would be the Warriors 89th of the season and playoffs combined. Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals is Curry’s last shot to lead the Warriors in their effort to capture back-to-back titles and cap off possibly the best season in NBA history. You can bet Curry is aware of that one.
Klay Thompson recently said if a win does not come the Warriors way, it would mean their entire season is a failure. Everything including Curry being named the first unanimous MVP in NBA history to the regular season wins record to Curry making a NBA record 400 three-pointers in a season and even their epic comeback from down 3-1 to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors have one game left to either cement their legacy or let the Cavs walk right over everything they’ve accomplished.
Curry knows it and his overall performance in the NBA Finals has not been the best but everything could all change in one game. A game Steph knows might have to be the best of his career.
Following from Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.
Stephen Curry believes he needs to play better than he ever has in Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
“I need to play my best game of the year, if not my career,” he said after practice Saturday.
“Because of what the stakes are — that doesn’t mean score 50 points, though,” he added. “That means control the tempo of the game. I need to be aggressive, where I need to push the envelope.”
Teammate Marreese Speights, though, expects Curry to do just that: score 50.
“Steph’s gonna go off on Sunday,” Speights wrote Saturday in an essay for The Players’ Tribune. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes out and scores 50. With all the things the media’s been saying about him, and everything on Twitter, I know he’s going to respond. I know it. And then all the other guys are going to fall into place. That’s how it works for us.”
Would everything be a failure for the Warriors if they lose? One could consider it to be so but the Warriors still made history with some of their accomplishments this season. It would most certainly be the defining factor in determining whether they are the best team in NBA history.
Success for them hinges on one last game and it must be the best game Curry has played this series if not this season because LeBron James is on the other side. And if anything was learned from last year, and his performance so far in the current NBA Finals, he’s coming for the crown to cement a legacy of his own.
