Game 7 of the NBA Finals holds massive weight for obvious reasons. But if you're the league MVP, the expectations are nothing below playing your absolute best game and snatching that title like it's no one else's business. Stephen Curry found himself in that very moment eight years ago when the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers were playing for the 2016 championship.
After being unanimously named the regular-season MVP, Curry had the chance to add a second title to his two league MVPs. As arguably the best player in the Association, the Dubs would depend heavily on Steph's output in Game 7 on their home floor. Usually not the one to feel pressure, No. 30 knew what this game was about.
"I need to play my best game of the year, if not my career, because of what the stakes are," Curry said before Game 7. "So that doesn't mean scoring 50 points, though. That means controlling the tempo of the game. When I need to be aggressive -- well, I need to be aggressive, but when I need to push the envelope, do it, but do it under control. Do it within the schemes that we're used to as a team. Focus on details on both ends of the floor. All those things go into having a great game, and I need to do that."
Curry's response was virtually what he had been doing the entire season. While he was the NBA's No. 1 scorer and by far the best shooter in the game, he led the Warriors to a record-breaking season with his incredibly sound control over games and playing beautifully off his teammates.
What made Golden State's offense lethal wasn't limited to Steph and Klay Thompson's rapid-fire 3-point shots. The Dubs played hot potato with the basketball on offense. They ran the best offensive scheme in the entire NBA. Without Curry's ability to stay dominant off the ball, Golden State would've been a completely different team.
Falling short of lofty expectations
To say the MVP didn't play his best game to close out the series would be a painful understatement. In his private moments, even Steph would admit that, given the circumstances, that might've been his most underwhelming performance.
In Game 7, Curry might've been the fourth or fifth-best player on the court, if that. Curry posted just 17 points — three in the fourth quarter — on 6-17 shooting overall and 4-14 from the three-point line. What hurts even more is that teammate Draymond Green played the best game of his life with 32 big points and a handful of 3-pointers. It's hard not to picture what would've happened if No. 30 played like his usual self with Green's help. What would've been a legacy-defining game turned into a legacy-breaking game for Chef Curry.
Related: Stephen Jackson reacts to Kobe saying he should've won the 1996 McDonald's MVP award: "That's all I wanted to hear"
How he bounced back
Since then, Curry won three championships, an NBA Finals MVP, and a scoring title. It's safe to say the Warriors legend more than made up for a tragic performance. Of his four titles, his most recent one (2022) is possibly his best. With no more Kevin Durant on the Dubs, the 'Baby-Faced Assassin' took the keys and took control against the Boston Celtics, especially when facing a potential 3-1 deficit in Game 4 on the road in TD Garden.
Going back to 2017, Curry got his revenge after he helped squander a 3-1 lead to those very same Cavaliers a year earlier. While Durant may have been the best player for the Warriors in two of their three Finals series, no one can refute Steph's place as the engine to arguably the league's most talented teams ever.
Related: "I did everything, I thought" - Steph Curry gets honest about Kyrie Irving's Game 7 dagger in 2016 Finals
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