Stephen Curry's Triple-Double Helps Warriors Clinch 2nd Straight Playoff Berth
After failing to secure a playoff berth Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, Stephen Curry made darn sure it happened Friday.
His Golden State Warriors stomped the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center, winning 112-95. Curry was electrifying for all four quarters, finishing the game with 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
It was his fourth triple-double of the season, tying him with Lance Stephenson and Joakim Noah for the league lead.
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Curry's triple-double was historically significant for a few reasons.
The playoff berth it helped to secure marked two straight for the Warriors, something that hasn't happened in over two decades.
And no Warriors player has posted this many triple-doubles since Wilt Chamberlain.
Whoever the Warriors end up playing in the first round of the postseason will obviously have to devote the majority of the defensive attention to Curry.
He leads the league with 247 made threes, hitting 42 percent of his attempts. He's also seventh in scoring at 23.5 points per game.
But the four triple-doubles and an assist average at 8.5 makes devoting too much attention to him dangerous as well.
Curry will find the open man.
With David Lee back in the lineup just in time for a postseason run, he has a great interior scorer to distribute the ball to.
And shooters like Klay Thompson and Steve Blake will burn the opposition for leaving them open.
Golden State's superstar point guard is more than just a three-point shooter. And his versatility makes the Warriors a potential spoiler for one of the West's top teams in the first round.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com and are current as of April 11, 2014.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report.
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