Warrior Wonder: Stephen Curry is still peaking

Stephen Curry’s sensational first half against the Phoenix Suns showcases his hard work during the offseason.

Hours before Monday’s game against the Suns, the Wall Street Journal published an article with a headline that should send shudders throughout the rest of the league: “Stephen Curry Wants to Get Better at Shooting.”

Noting how Curry posted his career-best True Shooting percentage last season, Ben Cohen lays out Stephen Curry’s mission to bump his efficiency to unimaginable heights:

Curry trained for three hours a day and six days a week this summer. He began his workouts in a virtual-reality headset to sharpen his peripheral awareness. He proceeded to elaborate breathing exercises that stabilized his core muscles. When he finally bothered reaching for a basketball, Curry made between 600 and 700 shots in every session, Payne said. On heavy shooting days, he counted more than 1,000 makes. The whole point of his quest for peak efficiency, Curry explained, is to reach the next phase of a career that has already been revolutionary. “Where you really have total control of your game,” he said. “You understand everything, how it’s going to happen, one step ahead.”

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Curry put his money where his mouth is during the first half against the Suns, effortlessly pouring in 21 points and ultimately finishing the game shooting 8 of 14 from the field. While a surprising amount of offensive fouls, technical fouls, and hot three-point shooting from the Suns was too much for a short-handed Warriors team, Curry gave us a lot to keep us excited for his season ahead.

From the jump, Curry ignited the Warriors offense with his ball movement, logging three assists within the first four minutes of the game.

Coming back to Curry’s goal: to have “total control of your game” and be “one step ahead” — how’d he do?

While his steal alone was exceptional, Curry’s three-point fake opens up an easier finish at the hoop. Speaking of finishing, Curry was chalk-full of incredible drives as he continued to stay ahead of the defense:

Here he is again, anticipating the collapsing defense and responding with a high off-the-glass finish:

Oh, and his off-ball movement and three-point finishing weren’t too bad either:

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Honorable mentions for the Warrior Wonder go to Steve Kerr and Kevin Durant, who were ejected and slapped with a technical foul, respectively, for arguing some questionable calls with the refs.