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Kent Bazemore Praises Stephen Curry, Shades Bradley Beal amid Scoring Title Race
May 10, 2021
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry took another step toward securing the 2020-21 NBA scoring title with 49 points in 29 minutes during Saturday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He left teammate Kent Bazemore impressed and willing to even throw some shade at Curry's closest competition for that scoring title.
"Forty-nine points in 29 minutes, that's unreal," Bazemore said, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports. "We got guys hurting hamstrings to keep up."
Those comments didn't go unnoticed by Beal or his wife, Kamiah Adams-Beal (warning: NSFW language):
As Poole noted, Curry checks in at 31.9 points per game and just ahead of Bradley Beal's 31.4. However, Beal is slated to miss the Washington Wizards' next two games because of a hamstring injury.
If Curry maintains his lead, it will mark the second scoring title of his career.
He also led the NBA with 30.1 points per game in 2015-16, which was the season he won his second consecutive MVP award. The seven-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selection played his way into the MVP discussion this season as well, although he will likely have to settle for the scoring title thanks to Nikola Jokic's MVP efforts on the Denver Nuggets.
Curry is on pace to lead the league in points per game thanks largely to his torrent stretch in the season's second half.
He averaged 37.3 points a night in April while setting an NBA record with 96 three-pointers in a month. He also scored 30 or more points in each of Golden State's five games in May.
The three-time champion has carried the Warriors into playoff positioning at 35-33, which is good enough for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Beal's Wizards are also in playoff position at 32-36 and the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference. He poured in 50 points during Saturday's overtime win over the Indiana Pacers, although he also suffered his injury during that game.
He will have to watch from the sidelines and hope Curry comes back to the pack in the scoring battle during the season's final week.