As one point guard continues his ascent up the superstar ranks, another is fighting his way to get back there at all. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Deron Williams of the Brooklyn Nets have been named NBA Conference Players of the Week for games played between Monday, November 3 and Sunday, November 9.
Curry led the Warriors to a 2-1 week that came just short of keeping them undefeated. Golden State, playing without Klay Thompson and David Lee, fell to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night for their first loss of the season. Curry’s numbers were typically stellar save for one major area: turnovers. Steph committed 10 miscues by himself against the Suns, and poked fun at his lack of ball security and promised he’d be better better going forward after the game.
That’s a scary for thought for the rest of the league considering his absolute prowess elsewhere. Curry is the league’s leader in both scoring and steals, and is top-eight in assists, too. He averaged 30.0 points, 7.3 assists, and 3.3 steals last week while shooting a scorching 14-of-27 from three-point range. The oldest Splash Brother is making plays like this on a seemingly nightly basis:
With Curry playing better than ever defensively and Steve Kerr’s team finally taking full advantage of its myriad of playmakers, there’s a case to be made that 5-1 Golden State is currently the league’s best team. And if Curry can better manage his turnover woes as promised, that argument will be one that’s made all season long.
The Nets have quietly rebounded from an awful start in Boston to win four of five games, and Williams’ play is the biggest reason why. In helping Brooklyn to a 3-1 record last week, the former All-NBA performer averaged 20.8 points and 7.0 assists per game while making 56.9 percent of his shots.
Williams boasted all offseason that he’s healthier now than he’s been in years, and his recent play is backing up that talk. And as his confidence continues growing, there’s every reason to believe that Williams is capable of maintaining this level of play over the long-haul – assuming those fragile ankles don’t doom him yet again. He sure is putting far more stress on them this season than he did in 2013-2014, and its paying major dividends. This isn’t a move Deron makes last season:
Could he even surpass Curry and the rest to regain his former claim to the point guard throne? No way. Steph is more likely to maintain his current pace than Williams is, and there are simply too many other elite players vying for supremacy at that position.
But if Deron can continue playing at an All-Star level, Brookyn will be a far more viable contender in the Eastern Conference than previously anticipated at the very least. Curry and his team, meanwhile, have far bigger ambitions: MVP and a NBA championship.
What do you think?
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