Steph’s Historic Performance Buries Magic

The Orlando Magic fell victim to a historic performance by Steph Curry on Thursday night as the Golden State Warriors prevailed by a score of 130-114.

Stephen Curry looks to move around Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo. Curry dropped 51. (photo Reinhold Matay / USA TODAY Sports)

Curry’s 51 points would tie for 5^th most by any player against the Magic, and he would hit a blazing 20-of-27 from the field to get there. The Warriors guard also set a record for most consecutive games with a made three-pointer at 128, as well as setting the single-game record for threes by an opposing player in Magic franchise history with ten. He finished as the only player in NBA history to score 50+ points with 1 or fewer free throws, compiling a true shooting percentage of 92% and an effective field goal percentage of 96%.

From beginning to end, this one was the Steph Curry show.

The Magic would defend him admirably – leading at the half and hanging with the Warriors through three quarters – but it would be one of Curry’s signature HORSE shots from just past half-court that broke Orlando’s back.

Leading by five with three seconds left on the clock, Curry took the inbound pass, sped down the court, and threw up more of a hypothesis than a prayer as the clock expired. The crowd erupted in a fit of surprise and exuberance as the shot banked off the glass and went in, extending the Warriors lead to eight and crushing the Magic’s hopes that this would be their night.

“I actually knew he was going to hit that half-court shot,” chuckled teammate Klay Thompson, “I swear I did. It was an amazing performance. He carried us tonight and we are witnessing greatness.”

Klay was right about that. The Magic managed to contain every Warrior not named Steph Curry, to the tune of Marreesse Speights finishing as the team’s second-highest scorer with 14.

None of that would matter, as Curry scored 24 points in the third quarter alone – nearly matching the Magic’s total of 28.

There were still positives to be found in this defeat for a young Magic team that hung with the defending NBA champions.

Second-year forward Aaron Gordon notched a career-high 19 points, and nearly made it a double-double with 8 rebounds. His recent shooting woes came to an end with an efficient 9-of-14 line highlighted by several ferocious dunks.

Evan Fournier led the team in scoring with 20, hitting three of his five threes along the way. Fournier was a perfect 5-for-5 at the line, notching 4 steals and three assists to round out an all-around productive night.

The starters performed well as an offensive unit, each scoring 12 or more points.

Defensively, however, coach Scott Skiles said that the team was lacking. When asked what they did to stop the highest scoring team in the league, he responded “Not much. We were scoring, that’s basically what was going on.”

The Magic (25-31) look to rebound from this loss with a quick turnaround against the Knicks in New York tomorrow night. Their next home game comes against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night. Follow Rocket Sports and Entertainment for the latest Magic coverage.