Curry felt rhythm would come despite misses in Warriors win
Although he missed 15 three-pointers in a game for the first time in his career, Stephen Curry felt confident he would get the winner.
Stephen Curry trusted the rhythm he found to propel the Golden State Warriors to victory over the Miami Heat would come despite setting a personal record for missed three-point attempts.
Through three quarters against the Heat at Chase Center, Curry had 14 points on 2-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc. He had attempted at least 15 three-pointers in 47 prior regular season games, but this was the first time he had made just two.
The two-time NBA MVP found his range with two minutes and 26 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and laid on two assists for Kent Bazemore to help the Warriors force overtime.
Curry missed his first three shots in the additional period but hit a go-ahead three with 1:15 remaining and made a phenomenal step back jumper from 28 feet to put Golden State up six with 17 seconds left.
First time in Curry's career
He finished the game on 5-of-20 shooting from beyond the arc – the first time in his career he has missed 15 threes in a game in the regular season and playoffs. His previous worst came in the defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals.
"I probably took five bad ones. I'd say, the rest of them were off the dribble in rhythm or catch and shoot wide-open, I just was missing," Curry said of his display against Miami, in which he finished with 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
"So, knowledge and confidence is huge, and understanding that eventually I'll find the right rhythm, the right look and make a big one, and thankfully it happened at the end of regulation and then in the two in overtime.
"Shoot with confidence and keep shooting"
"I tried not to think of the percentages during the game when you know like, 'Damn, I missed about 17 of these.' That doubt can sometimes creep in, you've got to kick it out and just shoot with confidence and keep shooting."
He added: "You play enough games and go through enough experiences, you know what it's like to kind of feel a little lost when shots aren't falling, and you know how you mentally react to it and what you can do to keep your confidence and stick with it.
Shooting since nine
"It's just bread over time ... I've been shooting since I was nine. You got to be able to figure out how to get through some bad shooting games."
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was unsurprised to see Curry still play a crucial role even when he was enduring an off shooting performance.
"This is so typical of Steph. He's just the kind of player and the kind of person who can be in the midst of one of his worst shooting nights of the year and still hit three enormous shots to help us win the game. So really an amazing team win and a lot of fun," said Kerr.
"I just think he hasn't just built up his body and his skill over the years, I think he's built up his mind.
Strong-willed Steph
"And he's so strong-willed that he doesn't let things bother him and he knows that the law of averages are going to play out. He has so much belief in his shot that he's going to keep shooting.
"It's the same reason he shoots three-quarter court shots when there's still time on the clock. He doesn't care about the percentage. He actually believes that's a shot he can make, so he takes it.
"And same thing applies when he's in the midst of a tough night, he always believes the next one is going in. He's got an incredibly powerful belief in himself."