Steph brings up bad memories after LeBron’s game-winner

Warriors

Steph brings up bad memories after LeBron’s game-winner

Steph Curry usually is the one hitting miraculous, back-breaking 3-pointers that leave helpless defenders shrugging their shoulders and just staring at him as he celebrates.

Instead, Curry was that helpless defender Wednesday night, staring at LeBron James after the Los Angeles Lakers’ star hit what would be the game-winning 3-pointer in the Warriors’ 103-100 loss in the play-in contest at Staples Center.

A few moments earlier, LeBron had gotten poked in the eye on a foul by Draymond Green.

Still, LeBron was able to knock down the clutch shot with Curry nearby.

“It’s a great shot,” Curry told reporters on a video conference call after the game. “Broken play. I sunk in thinking he was kind of out of the play and they found him. He got his balance just in time and knocked it down. That was a tough one because you don’t really expect it to go in.

“You expect us to get the rebound, come down in transition and have a possession to take the lead, but everything changes when it goes in. All-time great players make great shots. That’s what happens.”

This isn’t the first time Curry has watched an all-time great player make the decisive shot in a postseason game.

Warriors fans know all about Kyrie Irving’s 3-pointer that helped the Cleveland Cavaliers pull out a Game 7 win in the 2016 NBA Finals. Curry was isolated on Irving and had to watch as the shot went in.

Curry was asked after Wednesday’s loss what he feels like to be on the other end of a demoralizing shot, and he invoked that fateful night in Oakland from 2016.

“Well, I’ve seen it before about five years ago,” Curry said. “I know what it’s like. This one I was a little further away, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.”

The good news for Curry and the Warriors is that LeBron’s shot didn’t end their season like Irving’s shot did. Golden State has another chance to make the playoffs when the Warriors host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Chase Center.

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If everything goes according to plan, Curry will be the one hitting a huge 3-pointer over Ja Morant or Dillon Brooks to seal a Warriors win and a first-round date with the Utah Jazz.