Stephen Curry detonates on Wembanyama's Spurs in San Antonio...AGAIN

Warriors hand the Spurs another home L.

Editor’s Note: Warriors basketball is reaching a fever pitch, and we’ve got our guy Splash Fro returning to revel in how awesome last night’s victory was! Check this great article out and let Splash know how you feel about Wemby in the comments. Yuuup!!

Stephen Curry is a rude guest. Yeah I said it. Down right rude. All too often he’ll come to town and make it all about himself. Don’t fall for that autograph signing scheme. It’s to butter you up before he rips your heart out and silences your arena like an energy vampire.

He’s done it time and time again. Iconic moments on the road. New York. Houston. Oklahoma City. Cleveland. Boston. France. Why should San Antonio be any different? With the NBA schedule makers playing Twister with the Warriors’ schedule, the Chef rolled through south Texas and left with a pair of 40s.

Something clicked after Wednesday’s first quarter sluggish start to “game one” versus San Antonio. I knew going into Friday’s run it back game that my weekend mood would be predicated on how well that momentum carried into the next game. What playoff style adjustments might we see from Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson? Pretty sure “Don’t let Curry score 42” was somewhere high on that list.

The Warriors and Spurs treated us to some very good early season hoops. Each team wanted to seize the upper hand from the start. Golden State Head Coach Steve Kerr said of the starting line up

While Spurs PG De’Aaron Fox works his way into game shape, Area 51 (Stephon Castle & Victor Wembenyama duo) has been holding it down for the rejuvenated franchise that finds itself vying for positioning in a crowded western conference. At Chase Center last week, someone told me “Wemby is a problem. A Problem!”

With San Antonio looking to avenge their first home loss of the season, the Dubs met their energy head on. It wasn’t so much an offensive explosion but a battle of defenses harassing each other. The early pace was so frenetic even Kevin Harlan commented (ick warning) how sweaty Curry was at the first break. Golden State had forced San Antonio into six turnovers while the Spurs forced the Warriors to miss eight consecutive shots by the time San Antonio called the first time out of the game.

It was a good timeout for the Warriors too. Wemby’s presence in the lane obviously affected shots in the lane as if he were the Fantastic 4’s Reed Richards. The Warriors got predictable driving the middle with Wemby lurking then kicking out to shooters so the Spurs played the passing lanes forcing turnovers.

The old guys still got it

Coming out of the timeout, the offensive adjustment put Jimmy Butler in the middle of the action downhill with the ball in his hands. I liked this action better than Draymond with the ball because Jimmy is a bigger offensive threat. Timely rim attacks kept the Spurs defense on their toes. His ability to finish at the rim or get to the line was way more effective than a Draymond tear drop.

Jimmy Buckets has quickly earned Kerr’s trust in those non-Steph minutes. He’s the calming presence on the court a la Andre Iguodala, just as impactful on defense while scoring in different ways than Unanimous.

Once again, Draymond Green rose to the challenge of slowing Victor Wembanyama. Wemby looks like he’s photoshopped next to everyone he stands near.

Any time you’re on a list that includes Michael Jordan, you’re in rare Air. Stories were still dropping about Curry’s 40 points games after age 30 before he tied His Airness last night, but Unanimous decided to join the GOAT as the only players 37+ with consecutive 45+ point games. Always respectful of the greats that preceded him, like he threw up a 3-1 in homage to Reggie Miller, Steph’s “2-3” was a nod to Jordan.

What do you think about Steph warming up in Mambacita Kobe 6s? Didn’t he just break up with UA yesterday and today he’s on camera flirting with Nike. Told ya. Hella rude guest. Steph commented about the significance of choosing these Nikes.

While Sneakerheads theorized which logo would adorn SC30’s feet, the Bay Area was still in shock after a shooting at Oakland’s Laney College tragically claimed the life of popular Coach John Beam.

The tenacious defense plagued both benches early on. Neither shot the 3PT particularly well. Spurs F Julian Champagnie, who’s been shooting well lately, uncharacteristically missed early wide open 3s. The Warriors defense did a great job at holding Spurs starters Harrison Barnes and Devin Vassell to a combined 18 points. As the Spurs surged in the third quarter, who would step up for the Warriors?

Just enough help

The one point margin of victory shows how close this game was and how valuable each player’s contributions were needed to pull out the road win.

• Will Richard continued his stand out rookie campaign. No matter which announcer says his name, I always hear it as Lil Richard. I’d love to see him get more than 16 minutes. Will not Lil.

• Brandin Podziemski got the lion share of bench minutes hitting some timely 3s and taking charges like he normally does.

• Al Horford found ways to impact the game defensively despite going 0-4 from the field.

• I was really impressed with how Gary Payton II bounced back in the 3rd quarter. The Lil Big Man looked off in the first half. Maybe the San Antonio bigs made it tough for him to finish in the lane. Some early ticky tack fouls might have also made it tough to get into the flow. But he shook that off after the half hitting two huge threes to keep pace with the Spurs who took a two point lead into the final period.

Down the stretch was too much Stephen Curry. Does anyone enjoy hopping more than this guy?