Why February 27 is Stephen Curry day

ORLANDO: Stephen Curry went nuclear once again on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, marking the 14th time the greatest shooter of all time has scored fifty points or more.

It was a record-breaking night at the Kia Center in Orlando, as Stephen Curry proved yet again why he is one of the best to ever play the game of basketball. The Golden State star scored 56 points, sinking 16 of his 25 shots from the field, including an astonishing 12 threes on a 63.2 per cent clip. Not only was it the 26th game in Curry’s 16-year career in which he made 10 plus threes, but the 36-year-old has the most 50 point games by a player after turning 30 with nine. The next closest is Wilt Chamberlain with seven.

Curry’s emphatic performance, in which he outscored the Magic by himself in the third quarter, helped lead the Golden State Warriors to a 121 – 115 victory over Orlando. The incredible show has led many fans to dub the day, February 27, as Stephen Curry day. The reason is simple. Curry has a habit of shocking the world on this fateful date.

Twelve years ago to the day, Stephen Curry had his first ever 50 point game, when he scored 54 on the road against the New York Knicks. The then 24-year-old Curry made 11 of his 13 attempts from deep, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Knicks, as New York beat Golden State 109 – 105. Regardless, for many, the night served to introduce Curry’s destructive capabilities. In fact, to fellow player Iman Shumpert, it was the night that set Curry on the path of having a hall of fame career.

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“I feel like that’s when [Curry] decided, you was just gonna r*pe the league.”

Shumpert described how he saw Curry’s confidence building as he dominated his teammate Raymond Felton, who failed to provide adequate defence.

“I seen it coming, I’m like the confidence is changing G, he going back to Davidson on us bro, nah, his jersey ain’t red bro don’t let him do that,” Shumpert said, adding that “he doing the sh*t that we was like ‘you cant do that in the league.’ The 2016 NBA champ discussed Curry’s quick release and what he believes to be the start of Curry’s crowd invigorating celebrations, before apologising to New York for allowing that to happen.

“Before we knew it the man had 50, and the garden was cheering for him.”

While that game may have taken Curry’s confidence to another level, there’s another game that people think of first when they think of his incredible performances. That game also took place on February 27, and saw Curry have 46 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 36 of which came from the 12 threes he made.

The game was a thriller, as Oklahoma’s Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook forced overtime with the game tied 103-103. Curry would score 12 points in the extra five minutes, making three shots from deep, including what many consider to be one of the greatest game winners in NBA history.

After Klay Thompson scored tied the score 118-118 with a three-point play after being fouled on a layup, Westbrook would bring the ball down the court. The Thunder would pass the ball back and forth, until Westbrook drove into the paint for a shot that bounced off the rim and into Andre Iguodala’s hands. Iguodala then passed the ball to Curry, who took a few steps before taking a 37-foot three pointer with six seconds left in overtime. He made the shot, and Mike Breen shouted his now iconic “Bang! Bang!” for the first time ever.

It seems that Curry likes to show out on February 27, as he now has three highlight performances on the date. And, although he’s getting older, the 36 year old might have enough years left for a couple more.

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