Published: Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 / Updated: Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 10:27 PM
Fowler: Stephen Curry makes the most of Charlotte homecoming
Fowler: Golden State's Stephen Curry makes the most of Charlotte homecoming
- sfowler@charlotteobserver.com
The Stephen Curry Show used to play roughly 15 times a season at Davidson. It only plays once a season in Charlotte now, when Curry’s Golden State Warriors come to town, but it remains a dazzling spectacle.
Curry scored 27 points and added seven assists and seven rebounds in Golden State’s 104-96 win Monday against Charlotte, while playing in front of a crowd that included 73 friends and family members for whom he had to provide tickets.
The visit is important to Curry, in part because his father, Dell Curry, announces Bobcats games on TV and once starred for the Charlotte Hornets. Stephen Curry, incidentally, believes the Bobcats should change their nickname back to Hornets once New Orleans officially gives it up.
dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com - Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) passes around Charlotte Bobcats' Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) to a teammate in the first half at Time Warner Cable Arena on December 9, 2012. Golden State led 58-40 at halftime. David T. Foster III-dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com
“I’m sure they should bring it back,” Curry said. “Winning takes care of a lot of different things, but the name would definitely help out.”
It was quite a successful long weekend for Curry in Charlotte. He not only got to visit with his family Sunday, but also got to go to the Panthers game along with some of his Golden State teammates – and happened to catch Carolina’s best game of the season.
That’s the way Curry’s life is going. Finally healthy after a recurring ankle injury haunted parts of his first three NBA seasons, he is playing his best basketball for a surprising Golden State team that is 14-7. He has scored 20 or more points in eight straight games, a career high.
Said Golden State coach Mark Jackson of Curry: “That was a great homecoming. The guy is playing at an elite level right now. … It’s awesome for me to watch one of the good guys win one.”
Curry said the best part of Monday night, besides the win, was seeing Davidson coach Bob McKillop in the stands and getting hot in the third quarter. His 5-month-old daughter, Riley, fell asleep in that quarter, but no one else did as Curry scored 15 and the Warriors basically put the game away.
Charlotte (7-13) lost its eighth straight – the longest losing streak in the NBA.
Every time Curry turned around he saw someone else he knew, dating back from the time he used to run out on the old Charlotte Coliseum court and hoist up shots as a kid before his father’s games.
“The lady who used to give me ice cream at the old coliseum is still here,” Curry said. “She stopped me and said hi and offered me another scoop if I wanted one. … Little stuff like that makes the whole night special.”
Curry had a number of highlight plays, including an open-court strip of Kemba Walker and a reverse layup on the other end. He also made one 3-pointer on the dead run that left Bobcats rookie Jeffery Taylor clutching air after Curry’s juke.
Walker (24 points, six assists) also left Curry in the dust several times in a matchup of fine young point guards. And Curry wasn’t perfect, air-balling one 22-footer, getting another attempt stuffed by Gerald Henderson and scoring only one point in the fourth quarter.
But Curry was plenty good, and he finally has enough help this season to make Golden State more than an afterthought in the Western Conference. He had an answer for every question except one: Who will he cheer for Jan. 2 when Duke (starring his brother, Seth Curry) plays Davidson in Charlotte?
“I still don’t know how to answer that one,” he said.
It’s a shame Curry is in the Western Conference and doesn’t come around more often. But Monday was still a nice memory for those who knew him at Davidson and Charlotte Christian – and a reminder of how good his future still can be.