SAN ANTONIO — Warriors star Stephen CurryFriday night began in the Kobe 6 sneakers the new free agent wore during pregame warmups to signal to the clothing world that he was open for business.
“New beginnings,” he said.
But Curry's Friday night ended in familiar shoes and again in a familiar place, at the free throw line, playing at the line with the road arena roaring in his ear.
Whistling. Whistling. Curry did both, scoring 49 points and rallying the Warriors to a 109-108 victory over the Warriors. Spurs.
“I'm not interested in whether he makes them or not,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry's free throws. “I think everyone is waiting for it.”
Trailing one and pushing him in transition, Curry baited De'Aaron Fox fouled on touch with 6.4 seconds left. As he turned dramatically back to the line, the opposing star of the night, Victor Vembanyamaaddressed the louder section of the Spurs fan base and implored the fans to perk up and perhaps scare Curry into missing.
“Absolutely,” Curry said when asked if he saw it. “I played it.”
Between punches, Curry would walk a few feet closer to the crowd and, taunting Wembanyama, imploring the crowd to get even louder. He then stepped back, made his second free throw and – after a defensive stop on Fox at the buzzer – gave the Warriors their second straight win in San Antonio with their second straight volcanic performance.
Curry scored 46 points in a convincing win over the Spurs on Wednesday night, doing most of his damage at the free throw line. Curry shot 15 of 16 from the line that night and is now 66 of 70 on free throws this season, putting him on track to lead the league in percentage for the sixth time in his career.
Before Friday night's contest, Curry was told he had just scored 40-plus points in a game for the 43rd time since his 30th birthday, one shy of Michael Jordan's league record (44).
So when Curry hit a fourth-quarter triple (one of nine 3-pointers on Friday night) to break the 40-point barrier, he made a “2” and a “3” with his fingers as he jogged back down the court, an ode to Jordan for setting his record.
“I threw it back, though,” Curry said. “This is my second time doing this. But this is pretty cool just in terms of individual achievements. I'm proud of the longevity.”
It was the first time since 2022 that Curry scored more than 40 points in consecutive games, and it came at the right time for the previously hoarse Warriors, who had lost six straight road games before landing in San Antonio.
Curry recently missed three games due to illness and struggled to score 13 points in his first game Tuesday, gasping for air in the second half of the team's crushing loss. Oklahoma City Thunder.
But the wind quickly returned. Curry looked fresh in both wins over the Spurs. Curry scored 28 points Friday night off the dribble, his most in a game since 2015, according to GeniusIQ.
He then paid tribute to Kerr's speech that morning.
“He rarely talks about his days in Chicago,” Curry said. “He made several references to how they approached their team and their identity, comparing it to a group getting together. You have the lead vocalists, the bass, the acoustic, the electric guitar, the drummer, the stagehands, the guys running the speakers. He said he was right above the guy plugging in the speaker.”
Curry acknowledged that he was the lead singer that night, making headlines with his pregame sneaker choice and then silencing the crowd with his performance.
