Stephen Curry scored 60 points in a game. Unfortunately, as the last two weeks in the NBA have shown, that by no means guarantees a victory.
Despite the former MVP’s heroics, the Golden State Warriors lost a 141-134 overtime shootout to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. Curry finished the game with 60 points on 22-of-38 shooting, including 10-of-23 from 3-point range, plus six rebounds and four assists.
You could have forgiven Warriors fans for thinking they were watching another classic performance from Curry, willing the Warriors to a win despite the defense doing everything it could to stop him from getting a clean look. After trailing for much of the third quarter, Curry pushed the Warriors back into the lead, but they were unable to avoid overtime.
The Hawks wound up getting the win via 35 points from Trae Young. It was an entertaining ride.
Curry joins fellow All-Star reserves Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker in the curious group of players to reach 60 points and still take a loss in the last two weeks. Towns was the first, posting a career-high 62 on Jan. 22 but taking the loss in a gallingly officiated ending.
Then came Booker, who had 62 on Jan. 26 but couldn’t lead the Phoenix Suns over the Indiana Pacers.
Curiously, both of those performances came on a night when a different player in a different game scored 70 and won: Joel Embiid with 70 before Towns, and Luka Doncic with 73 at the same time as Booker. The NBA has seen an unprecedented burst of scoring lately, and you can learn more on why here from Yahoo Sports’ Dan Devine.
