Stephen Curry Throws Down 1st Dunk in Nearly a Year
Golden State Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry frequently takes the ball to the rack and lays it in, but it's a rare occasion when he rises over the rim to dunk the ball.
In fact, he did so for the first time this season during Monday's 111-95 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The game got heated late in the first half just prior to a jump ball, but the game wasn't much of a contest in the second half. The Warriors built on their 20-point halftime lead in the third quarter, owning a 26-point advantage over Oklahoma City following three 12-minute frames.
When Curry finished off the dunk early in the first quarter of the tilt, it marked the first time he's dunked in almost a calendar year. The last time he sent it home came on March 29 of last year, per Basketball Reference. He hasn't jammed it more than seven times—which occurred last season— in a single campaign and has missed three of his 25 career attempts.
Considering Curry spends a large amount of his time hoisting shots from beyond the arc or driving through a crowded lane, it shouldn't come from as a surprise that he doesn't convert a ton of dunks. Of the star floor general's 9,437 career field-goal attempts through Monday's game, 4,263 of them (45.2 percent) have come from three-point range.
Despite not throwing down regularly, Curry provides plenty of spark with his ball-handling skills and lethal range. He's a huge reason why the Warriors have become a perennial power in the Western Conference.
After a loss to the San Antonio Spurs evened the two clubs in the standings, Golden State won four straight to take back a 2.5-game advantage with just 12 games remaining in the regular season. The Warriors would enter the playoffs as the top seed in the West for a third straight time should they hold on, having reached the Finals in each of the previous two.
