Golden State Warriors

SACRAMENTO — Steph Curry built this Warriors dynasty, this one-of-a-kind winning machine.

He decides when it ends.

And Sunday was not the day.

The smallest man on the court put the Warriors — and all they have accomplished over the last decade — on his back in a win-or-go-home Game 7 against the Warriors’ NorCal rivals, the Kings, in Sacramento.

And he was beyond great in the Warriors’ 120-100 win. He was legendary.

Curry scored an NBA Game 7 record 50 points on Sunday, breaking the will of a Kings team that had gone punch-for-punch with the Warriors in this series, while further bolstering his legacy as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA.

Tactics, emotion, pace, and execution — none of that stuff mattered in Game 7.

The Warriors had Curry. The Kings did not.

And that’s why the Warriors have more games to play this season. On Tuesday in San Francisco, they’ll start a second-round series against the Lakers and frequent adversary LeBron James.

“There’s a reason he’s a two-time [NBA] MVP, a Finals MVP — he pushes us over the top in moments like this,” Klay Thompson said of Curry. “Gosh, what an incredible performance. This is a Game 7 I’ll always remember as the Steph Curry Game.”

The Steph Curry Game featured the title character at his most aggressive. As his teammates allowed the pressure of a Game 7 to creep into their games, Curry pressed forward, attacking the rim and shooting deep 3-pointers without a second consideration.

“No one really shot it well,” Thompson said, “except for Steph.”

“His approach to these games is that he’s going to go down swinging,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. And as for the 50 points: “He’s just Steph Curry. He’s just that good.”

It was a game that could go down as Curry’s greatest postseason performance ever, on par with his 43-point Game 4 in last season’s NBA Finals, Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals (37 points to give the Warriors a 3-2 series lead), Game 4 of the 2016 second round against the Blazers (17 overtime points), and his 33-point second half in Game 6 against the Houston Rockets in the 2019 playoffs.

I could keep listing games, but you get the picture.

The Kings — a young squad that showed more than admirable grit in this series — discovered firsthand that there are levels to greatness. The Warriors were reminded that this team’s history of modern success starts and will end with Curry.

“He’s one of the greatest players ever,” Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said. “He did everything for them tonight.”

“When he gets it going, there’s pretty much nothing you can do.”

“I guess we could have double-teamed him more — allow someone else to get dunks,” Kings coach Mike Brown said.

Curry’s reminders were anything but subtle. He hit 179 feet worth of 3-pointers, including a step-back one with 7:55 that went in from 27 feet, despite Kings center Trey Lyles being inches away from him upon release. But he also scored nine baskets at the rim, navigating long arms and jumping bodies and using spin and English that would make billiards masters blush.

Add in a mid-range game that Curry relied upon to keep the Warriors’ offense above water in the first half, and you had a three-level masterpiece.

If there is still anyone who ridiculously typecasts Curry’s game as “chucking up a bunch of 3s,” show them Game 7.

That said, while Curry’s game has always featured nuance and versatility, it’s never featured this much of it.

“We all take him for granted because he’s brilliant night after night, and we’ve been watching this for 10 years,” Kerr said. “You just have to remind yourself once in a while that this is one of the great players in the history of the game.”

Curry has decided he will not have a sunset phase of his career.

Not now. Perhaps not ever.

When asked who can stop him, Curry said, “Hopefully, we never find out.”

So even after completing his trophy case last season with an improbable NBA Finals victory and an undeniable Finals MVP distinction, his workouts have remained as intense and focused as ever.

And his game is constantly evolving.

At age 35, he’s playing his best basketball.

It comes exactly when the Warriors need it most. Game 7 stands as a testament to that.

Curry showed some emotion in the game’s final moments, imploring the raucous Golden1 Center to “light the beam” for him — a taunt of the upstart squad’s post-victory celebration.

“All that stuff kind of comes out when you get the job done,” Curry said, wearing a hoodie that read “Trophy Hunting.” “This is hard, winning at this level… but there’s fun with it, too.”

But once the final buzzer sounded and the Warriors walked off the court, you’d never know he had just crushed the hopes and dreams of a town that thought that after 19 years, this would be the season the Kings would win a playoff series.

Curry entered the Warriors’ locker room without saying much — if anything at all. There were only a few nods and a beeline to the training table.

After playing two games in less than 48 hours, the Warriors have a game on Tuesday.

And a true assassin — even a baby-faced one — moves in silence.