Stephen Curry Outduels Kevin Love As Warriors Secure The 6 Seed

Kevin Love was 7-for-11 for 22 points in the first quarter Monday night, but Stephen Curry was right there with him, pouring in 15 points on 4-for-6 shooting. For the night, Love finished with 40 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, but he had 26 of those points and 10 of those rebounds in the first half alone. Curry also did most of his damage in the first half, but he helped the Dubs to the win at the end.

First, just a reminder that Love isn’t dropping buckets on a boring assortment of putback layups and three-pointers. The man can ball, and he shreds a pretty good defender — Draymond Green — here by pulling the ball through and scooting left for the bank-shot plus the foul:

Then there are the unreal outlet passes to Corey Brewer or whomever, something we’ve been spotlighting all season.

Love might be putting up video game numbers, but until he cares about defense, it’s hard to call him a complete player — except on the offensive end. Watch as Love fails to switch fast enough — though Adelman’s defensive schemes for Curry PnR’s could be the culprit — to get up on Curry’s grill when he’s coming off a high screen with an open look at a three-pointer.

Curry is a star who can go supernova fast. Nobody should allow him even a glimmer of an opening to pull the trigger. Curry ended with 32 points and 15 dimes and was able to largely match Love’s opening offensive salvo to give the Dubs the win and the 6-seed.