The Golden State Warriors entered Thursday night's game vs. the New Orleans Pelicans with the best record in the NBA (15-2) and a claim to status as a legitimate title contender, not just the dark horse they seemed to be before the start of the season. New head coach Steve Kerr has overseen something like a best-case scenario.
Plays like Tuesday night's game-winner vs. Orlando have made point guard Stephen Curry an MVP candidate, but he is so much more than functional or prone to coming up big in crunch time. Simply put, Curry is fun, capable of creating excitement when the result is already decided and drama is theoretically absent from the contest. He'd be worth watching even if the Warriors were at the bottom of the league.
So it's important to note two things about the following play. First, the Warriors were up 104-82 with roughly 2:25 left in regulation, which is another way of saying that the game was over. Second, and most crucially, Curry went behind his back twice — first as a dribble, then as a pass — for pretty much no reason except that it was totally awesome. Take a look:
If you're into results, then you'd probably like to know that the Warriors won 112-85 for their 11th straight victory, tying a franchise record set in 1971-72. This season's squad can set a new mark on Saturday at the Chicago Bulls, which rates as their biggest test during the streak.
Klay Thompson led the team in scoring with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting (including 7-of-8 to finish the game). A few days from now, it's likely that line will be seen as secondary to the unnecessary pass that led to the highlight above.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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