Stephen Curry Does It All to Extend Golden State Warriors' Picture-Perfect Start

Stephen Curry, Stephen Curry, Stephen Curry, Stephen Curry...and Stephen Curry.

I could go on like this, but that would be too easy—though still not as easy as Curry made it look to play NBA basketball on Thursday night.

With Ricky Rubio, a quick-handed defender, sidelined by a hamstring injury, the reigning MVP erupted from the get-go for 46 points, five rebounds and four assists to propel the Golden State Warriors to a 129-116 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"Anytime we're on the road, that's the key to success, is getting off to a good start and not letting the home crowd or the energy take off," he told TNT's David Aldridge after the game.

Curry did his part to tamp down the excitement at the Target Center, where the T-Wolves have lost all four of their outings so far this season. He torched Zach LaVine and Andre Miller for three after three after three after three—to go along with five free throws, a layup and an 18-footer—on the way to a 21-point opening frame, his fourth 20-point quarter in 10 games to start 2015-16.

Perhaps Curry caught wind of this prediction put forth by Bleacher Report's Dan Favale and used it as a motivational snack: "Aspects of Curry's scintillating start will fade with time. Twenty-point quarters shouldn't be a regular occurrence."

Either way, Steph was just getting started. He added 14 points to his tally between the second and third quarters to surpass the 30-point mark prior to the final frame...for the fifth time in just over two weeks.

Curry chipped in another 11, for good measure, after coming into the game for good about halfway through the fourth quarter. He closed the game just as he opened it, with—you guessed it—a long bomb that tickled the twine.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Curry had racked up as many threes (eight) as free throws and established himself as the first player in league history to knock down more than 50 treys in his team's first 10 games (per Basketball Reference).

Perhaps he's just trying to emulate the latest gadget in his Orinda, California, hacienda.

But Curry's output wasn't just historic. Every bit of it was critical to Golden State's cause. Klay Thompson (15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, 3-of-9 from three) splished more than he splashed. The same held true for Harrison Barnes (2-of-7 from three) and Andre Iguodala (1-of-6 from the floor).

Draymond Green (23 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists) was plenty productive on both ends of the floor. But even last season's Defensive Player of the Year runner-up couldn't hold together what had been the Association's stingiest defense against Minnesota's feisty reserves. The Wolves bench dominated that of the Warriors, 61-21, thanks to a stretch of 30 straight points from the second unit to shave what had been a 21-point deficit down to five with 8:30 to play.

Fortunately for the Warriors, Curry once again came to the rescue. A couple of quick jumpers in the middle of the fourth gave Golden State a nine-point cushion. Two more threes from Curry, including one the old-fashioned way, sealed the deal for the Dubs down the stretch.

Despite all the blowouts Golden State has racked up during its franchise-best 10-0 start—and all the glittery stats behind those efforts—the Warriors have been about as dependent on Curry as they were Thursday night. According to NBA.com, they've outscored the opposition by 153 points in Curry's 353 minutes, and by just 18 points in the 137 minutes he's spent on the pine.

That's what makes Curry the clear early favorite to defend his Maurice Podoloff Trophy, just as the Warriors look ready to lock up Larry O'Brien for another year.

Sure, his league-leading 33.3 points per game look nice. It's great that his shooting splits (53.2 percent from the field, 47.3 percent from three, 92.6 percent at the free-throw line) have him on track for membership in the exclusive 50-40-90 club. It's even better that he's starting fast breaks with 5.3 rebounds (4.7 on the defensive end) and finishing them with dishes to his teammates (5.6 assists).

And it might be best that he's a fantastic defender, with his 2.6 steals (second-most in the NBA) at the tip of that iceberg.

Really, though, it's actually best that he pulls off magic tricks like this, as if he's basketball's David Blaine: 

But what makes Curry so valuable, both to the Warriors and among his peers, is that he's so integral to everything they do, that he takes what would be a pretty good team and makes it, potentially, one of the greatest this game has ever seen.

More so than Blake Griffin with the Los Angeles Clippers, James Harden with the Houston Rockets, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook with the Oklahoma City Thunder and, perhaps, LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Or, to put it another way, Stephen Curry takes the Stephen Curries and makes them...Stephen Curry.

Stats are accurate as of Nov. 12, 2015.

Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.

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