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DETROIT -- The best player in the world was watching the best player in the NCAA tournament, and for a while, I forgot which of these guys was the best player in the world. I'm not sure LeBron James remembered, either.
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Stephen Curry amazes everyone in attendance -- even LeBron James ... (Getty Images) |
Davidson's Stephen Curry was putting on a show -- sorry; he was putting on another show -- and LeBron was watching from the first row, as mesmerized as any of us in the building and any of you watching on television.
Curry scored 22 of his 33 points in the second half of Davidson's 73-56 demolition of Wisconsin. It was his third straight NCAA tournament game with at least 30 points overall and 20 in the second half, and it put the Wildcats into the Elite Eight.
All of it is ridiculous, even to someone as sublime as LeBron James, who had been watching stoically until Curry detonated with 16 points in 6½ minutes midway through the second half. The sequence started with a pair of free throws, but then Curry began mixing in some degree-of-difficulty buckets.
He curled into the lane, caught a pass and kissed a moving 14-footer high off the glass. Davidson led 48-43. LeBron's eyebrows went up.
Curry next did one of his abracadabra 3-pointers, catching the ball and getting rid of it in the same motion. Davidson led 51-45. LeBron started clapping.
After a Wisconsin turnover, Curry caught a pass in the corner, paused as defender Joe Krabbenhoft flew past, then drained another 3-pointer. Davidson led 54-45. LeBron looked around and mouthed the word, "Wow."
Minutes later, with the shot clock winding down and two Badgers trying to prevent Curry from getting off a shot, he uncorked a vicious crossover dribble, stepped back and swished a 3-pointer. Davidson led 60-45. LeBron stood and raised both arms.
After a Wisconsin free throw, Curry attacked the rim, floated underneath, hung in the air as he was hit and spun a circus shot high off the glass. He added the free throw, giving him 16 of his team's previous 18 points. Davidson led 63-46.
LeBron screamed "Oh s---!"
There's a good chance I screamed the same thing.
Davidson still has another mountain to climb before joining 2006 Final Four qualifier George Mason among the greatest team stories in NCAA tournament history, but Curry already has become one of its best individual stories. And I don't mean this season. I mean, in any season.
Curry is averaging 34.3 ppg in three tournament games, which is 10th in NCAA tournament history, behind names like Austin Carr and Bill Bradley and Jerry West. Curry is averaging 25.7 ppg in the second half, which might not be behind anybody. He has done it against three of the better basketball programs of this era: Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin. And he has done it while playing for a team that doesn't have much of a Plan B.
As good as Davidson senior point guard Jason Richards is -- and he'll make some money overseas -- he's not keeping opposing teams from ganging up on Curry. Nor is anyone else in the Davidson lineup. There's a reason Curry has scored 77 of Davidson's 130 second-half points in the NCAA tournament:
The Wildcats don't have anybody else to do it.
And every team they play knows it.
And still it's happening.
This time it happened against Wisconsin senior Michael Flowers, a two-time pick for the Big Ten All-Defensive team. Flowers has manhandled the likes of Drew Neitzel and Eric Gordon, experience which he thought had readied him for Curry:
"Preparation for this game has been going on my whole career at Wisconsin," Flowers had said Thursday. "At the end of the game I want (Curry) to be breathless."
Curry was tired, no question about it. He played the first 31 minutes without a rest, coming out only after scoring those 16 points in 6½ minutes to give Davidson a 63-46 lead. When Curry came out for good with 57.9 seconds left, the tournament-record crowd of 57,028 gave him a standing ovation -- including the Wisconsin cheering section, which understood the greatness it had just witnessed and had the grace to acknowledge it.
Curry's father, former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, also stood and cheered. So did Davidson coach Bob McKillop and the rest of the Davidson bench.
The only person not standing and clapping was LeBron James, but that's OK. By then the best player in the world was gone.
And I'm assuming the best player in the world doesn't wear No. 30 for Davidson.