The Golden State Warriors picked up their seventh win in eight games in the Jimmy Butler era after defeating the Orlando Magic 121-115 in the Kia Center. Butler wasn't the catalyst for this win, as Stephen Curry turned back the clocks and had his best game of the season to deliver this narrow win.
Curry put up a season-high 56 points (16-25 FG, 12-19 3P) in a breathtaking offensive performance which single-handedly gave the Warriors the push they needed to win this one. Quinten Post added 18 points (7-9 FG) and five rebounds off the bench, while Draymond Green was the highest-scoring Warriors starter not named Steph with 12 points (3-8 FG) and 10 rebounds.
Paolo Banchero tried keeping up with Curry by putting up 41 points (16-27 FG), six rebounds, and five assists. Franz Wagner contributed 27 points (11-22 FG) in a solid outing, but the star duo received little offensive help from their teammates. Cole Anthony was the only other Magic player to score in double-digits, putting up 11 points (3-6 FG) with seven rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
Let's take a deeper look at this game and analyze the major takeaways.
Stephen Curry Is Inevitable
This hasn't been one of the best seasons in Stephen Curry's career. His scoring average of 24.0 points is the lowest it's been since 2013, with concerns creeping that the 36-year-old guard has started to regress. While it's insane to expect the same consistency we saw when he was winning MVPs a decade ago, it isn't like Curry has lost his offensive touch entirely.
His 56-point outburst, including 12 three-pointers, stands as another testament to his ability to be a game-breaking offensive player. These kinds of nights are not the norm for him anymore, but they remind him that he can single-handedly change a game if he gets going, even if he's supposedly lost a step.
Nights like these won't happen again, but it's not like nights where Curry goes an entire game without making a field goal also happen again. The truth is somewhere in the middle, but tonight also comes under the new circumstances that Curry is rejuvenated with the Warriors' recent success since adding Jimmy Butler.
Magic Had A Great Night Themselves
It's important to give the Orlando Magic credit for their performance tonight. Curry had to score every one of those points to ensure this victory landed in Golden State's laps instead. Despite being among the worst offensive teams in the NBA this season, Orlando kept supplying buckets through its stars to keep up with the Curry onslaught they were victims of.
The Magic went 45-89 from the field and 11-28 from three in this game, generating 11 more shot attempts than the Warriors by grabbing steals (9) and out-rebounding Golden State comprehensively (46-38). Ultimately, Steph's offensive explosion was too much for them to fight against.
The Magic's fight relied on Banchero and Wagner producing at a high clip. Unfortunately, the weak offensive talents across the roster reared their head tonight. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was their marquee free agent signing and dropped a goose egg with 0 points tonight.
The Warriors Rotational Let-Down
Two stars carried the Magic and the team was let down by the rotation in tonight's loss. The Warriors arguably had worse performances across their rotation but picked up the win due to Steph's brilliance. Curry was the only starter to shoot over 50% from the field, as the team went 36-79 from the field and 19-45 from three.
If you remove Curry's production, the team shot a spooky 20-54 from the field and 8-39 from three. Jimmy Butler had his worst scoring game in a Warriors jersey, with just five points (1-7 FG). The team acquired him to be less reliant on Curry's needing to go supersonic to deliver hard-fought wins, but tonight seemed to show that those nights might still be required occasionally.
The team will welcome a scorer like Jonathan Kuminga back into the rotation at some point this season, but the Warriors will hope they don't have a shooting performance like tonight again anytime soon.
