Stephen Curry dove into the crowd and nobody broke his fall
After dropping Game 1 to lose home-court advantage to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors knew they needed to come out with renewed energy, fire and hustle to get back on the good foot in Wednesday's Game 2. They got that hustle on one first-quarter loose ball from top gun Stephen Curry ... and, frankly, Steve Kerr and everyone else involved might have been just fine with him not giving 110 percent on a play like this:
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Steph Curry jumped into the stands, and this woman is very concerned pic.twitter.com/xabIYCRhs1
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 19, 2016
On one hand, it is admirable to see the NBA's back-to-back Most Valuable Player sacrificing his body to dive into the first row to try to save a possession. (It is, if nothing else, a welcome change in general valuing-the-ball from the Warriors' approach in the second half of Game 2.)
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) May 19, 2016
On the other, though ... hey, Steph? You are pretty important. I mean, reasonable LeBron quibbles aside, it's right there in the title of the award you just won in consecutive years; you are an extremely valuable asset, and one whom fans just saw spend six and a half playoff games suited due to worrying ankle and knee injuries. Maybe let one go and live to play another day, huh?
Moreover ... hey, Warriors fans sitting in the front row at Game 2? WHERE THE HECK WERE YOU GUYS?!?!?
.@StephenCurry30 leaps into audience chasing loose ball against @okcthunder #NBAPlayoffs @diamond83 @timkawakami pic.twitter.com/E7heLJP806
— Jose Carlos Fajardo (@jcfphotog) May 19, 2016
.@StephenCurry30 leaps into audience chasing loose ball against @okcthunder #NBAPlayoffs @BANG_Sports @stewardsfolly pic.twitter.com/oiCrBqBoRm
— Jose Carlos Fajardo (@jcfphotog) May 19, 2016
Security: Please escort the GSW fans who didn't catch steph out of the building ASAP
— sam esfandiari (@samesfandiari) May 19, 2016
The most remarkable fan of all, though, was the one who not only didn't lend a hand, but took the opportunity to snap a few shots for posterity while Curry lay in a heap on the ground and tried to work his way back to his feet:
Steph didn't get a ton of help after he went flying into the stands... pic.twitter.com/LqtyKMlvyu
— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) May 19, 2016
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 19, 2016
Despite the lack of care and consideration from the front-row denizens at Oracle Arena, Curry got himself back up and promptly returned to the business of trying to get the Warriors even, dancing through the entire Thunder defense to get to the cup for a slick quarter-closing layup:
Fun with @stephencurry30 on @nbaontnt pic.twitter.com/ekgdP454wi
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) May 19, 2016
Here's hoping your man the shutterbug had a zoom lens powerful enough to get a nice shot of that one.
If nothing else, our friendly photographer likely got in some more good shots of Curry's personal 15-2 run in the third quarter, which helped to put away the Thunder and tie the series at 1-1 with a 118-91 blowout win. Unfortunately, Curry did suffer some ill effects from his fall when a knot began to form on his right elbow. It is not the prettiest thing in the world, but here's a look:
Stephen Curry's elbow -- OUCH pic.twitter.com/LDmadK7YRa
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) May 19, 2016
Curry said in his post-game press conference that he banged the elbow on a metal platform during his fall. The good news is that the swelling does not affect motion.
Still, maybe don't leap into the crowd in Game 3, Steph. Not that the OKC crowd could possibly help him any less than the Golden State in the first row.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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