Stephen Curry spent Thursday night doing two things at once: helping the Warriors erase a huge hole against the Lakers, and putting Luka Doncic on the wrong end of the night’s loudest highlight.
Golden State stormed back from a 25-point deficit to beat Los Angeles 112-95 at home, evening the season series at 1-1. The comeback had plenty of moving parts, but the moment everyone will remember came in the third quarter, when Curry sent Doncic stumbling into a viral ankle-breaker that had the Slovenian star touching the floor.
Afterward, Curry talked about the play with the Amazon Prime crew and said the sequence caught even him a little off guard.
“I didn’t expect it to get that nasty, but it was one of those you gotta kind of keep your composure. And I remember James Harden had to do like the shimmy to get himself going back in the day. I don’t know, I haven’t been that open in a long time,” Stephen Curry said.
He added that the whole thing was part of the joy of still playing at this stage of his career.
“I just love this game. All my mannerisms are just all over the place cause I’m just having fun.
Those moments, especially at this stage of your career, you’re just appreciative of the ability to keep playing at this level. And I want that joy to continue until I’m done,” he added.
Curry wasn’t done with Doncic there. He kept seeking him out in one-on-one situations throughout the night, and he also unveiled an unusual new celebration after drilling a three against Doncic early in the second quarter.
The Warriors star also made it clear he had Yaxel Lendeborg in mind during the matchup.
“That’s part of it, for sure. Have your brother’s back. But it’s also, even his role in it, we gotta win the game,” said Curry on whether he was motivated to deliver for Lendeborg, given his back-and-forth with Doncic.
“And what that means is keep making Luka’s life as hard as possible. He’s the leading scorer in the league right now; the way he started that first quarter was ridiculous,” Curry admitted.
“And it was going to require everybody to be a little bit more physical, a little bit more connected, and withstand some of the flurries he has. So, of course, I was backing Yaxel up.”
Curry finished with 31 points, six assists, four rebounds, one steal, and one block, going 11-for-23 from the field and 8-for-14 from three. Lendeborg had a quieter night, putting up six points and one rebound in 24 minutes while shooting 2-for-3 overall and 1-for-2 from deep.
Doncic still got his numbers, finishing with 37 points, seven rebounds, and five assists on 12-for-27 shooting and 6-for-16 from three, but it wasn’t enough. The Lakers’ early 25-point cushion vanished, and Golden State walked away with the win.
The result left the season series tied, with two more meetings still to come in 2027 on January 21 and March 14. For now, though, the night belongs to Curry - the comeback, the celebration, and the play that had everyone talking.
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