What Draymond Was Thinking During Steph Curry's Go-ahead 3-pointer Vs. Clippers

What Draymond was thinking during Steph Curry's go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Clippers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Clutch players always show up in critical moments, and Steph Curry delivered.

With less than one minute remaining in the Warriors’ play-in tournament matchup on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers, and both teams tied at 117, Draymond Green handed the ball off to Curry, who relocated to the left wing, stepped back and made a clutch 3-pointer over Clippers center Brook Lopez to give the Warriors the lead.

Green, who recorded the assist on the play, described what he was thinking as the ball left Curry’s hands with 52 seconds left on the clock.

“I’m taught to crash right there, but of course I’ve seen it too many times,” Green told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson. “It’s going in. I knew it. It’s what he [does].”

Curry showcased his championship-level competitiveness and led Golden State to a 126-121 victory to advance to the second round of the NBA play-in tournament to battle against the Phoenix Suns on Friday for a chance to earn a playoff spot as the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed and face the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I tell you all the time that Steph is one of the smartest players, and he doesn’t get credit for it because he’s so good,” Green told reporters on Wednesday following the game.

“He shoots the ball better than anyone. He dribbles the ball as good as anyone. Oftentimes, people don’t value his IQ, but right in that moment, if you go back and watch it, he makes a sign. He does it, and I’m like, ‘Okay, I got it,’ and we went right into that action.

“He knew it would work, and he called it right there. If you see it, I’m running up, I look at him, he does something, ‘Got you.’ It’s just my job to get him the ball back, and he did the rest.”

Curry recorded a game-high 35 points, making 12 of his 23 field-goal attempts and 7 of his 12 3-point shots in 36 minutes on the floor. In the second half, the 38-year-old scored 27 of his 35 points, with 16 points coming from the third quarter alone.

“That’s 14 years, man,” Green added. “That doesn’t happen overnight. That’s a lot of trial and error, and then most importantly, our coach has the utmost confidence in us to figure it out, and he put us in great positions to be able to figure it out.”

The Warriors are scheduled for another do-or-die matchup against the Suns on Friday, so one can only expect Curry to once again prove why he is one of the best players and the greatest shooter of all time.

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