Steph’s 24-point first keeps him ahead of Beal in scoring race originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Steph Curry is known to check his phone at halftime of Warriors games. But what about right before he takes the court?
If Curry’s first-quarter performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chase Center on Saturday night is any indication, it’s pretty clear he saw Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal dropped 50 points in an OT win over the Indiana Pacers earlier in the night.
With Beal scoring 50, Curry needed to score 22 points Saturday to ensure he kept the NBA’s scoring lead for another night.
Curry wasted no time getting to that threshold, as he poured in 24 points in the first 12 minutes.
Beal pushed his season average to 31.4 points per game, while Steph is at 31.5 with three quarters left to raise that number.
Remarkably, this was Curry’s 33rd career 20-plus point quarter of his historic career.
Right from the start, Curry was dropping in 3-pointers from all over the court, finishing the period with five made 3-pointers on seven attempts. Overall, he went 6-of-9 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
While Beal couldn’t be stopped by the Pacers defense Saturday, a left hamstring might slow his quest for the scoring title.
Curry is trying to capture his second career scoring title after winning it during his unanimous NBA MVP season in 2015-16.
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With just a few games remaining in the season, the race between Curry and Beal is going to come down to the wire.
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