Steph Curry has achieved a lot in his NBA career: multiple league titles, two-time Most Valuable Player awards and numerous All-Star nominations.
But surprisingly, in his illustrious career, Curry has never hit a buzzer-beater to win a game as time expired. Per ESPN, he has hit seven shots to win games in the final 5 seconds.
That changed on Friday night as the 33-year-old took a few dribbles to his left, found enough space and drilled a 20-yard jumper as the clock hit zero to help the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 105-103.
“It’s about time I made one,” he exclaimed afterward, his relief palatable. “That’s my first one!”
The game-winning shot overshadowed what was another stuttering performance from the Warriors and Curry himself.
On Thursday, the Warriors suffered a shock loss in OT to the Indiana Pacers, a team missing nearly all of their best players.
And on Friday, the Warriors were down by nine points with about five minutes to play against the Rockets, the team with the worst record in the Western Conference.
Missing Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, the Warriors struggled to consistently make their shots, Curry kicking over a chair in frustration at one point during a timeout.
Curry shot just 4 of 13 from three, and 6 of 21 overall, leading the team in scoring with 22 points. But it was the final shot that made the difference.
He’s hit plenty of key shots in the final seconds of games, but it was his first game-winning buzzer-beater since his high school days.
“It felt great,” Curry said. “The way the whole last 48 hours have been with the way we played grinding out last night, going overtime, losing, the disappointment with that and then coming into this game, the back and forth, just grind-it-out mentality we had, the resilience we showed to give ourselves a chance the second half was impressive.
“It reminds you to keep the big-picture perspective on what we’re trying to do.”
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Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. led the way for Houston, with 19 and 17 points respectively, but each missed opportunities to give their team the lead in the final 65 seconds.
Despite their recent slump, the Warriors still have the second-best record in the Western Conference at 33-13, while the Rockets slip to 14-33 and remain with the joint-fewest wins in the conference.