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The Golden State Warriors began their season with the first 0-3 start of Stephen Curry’s career. They are now 7-3.
Curry led the Warriors to their seventh straight win on Saturday, dropping 41 points to beat the Orlando Magic 126-119 in overtime. Golden State now sits in a tie for fifth in a competitive Western Conference.
In addition to his 41 points, Curry posted 6 rebounds and 6 assists while shooting 13-of-19 from the field (5-of-10 from 3-point range). Several of those points came at an inconvenient time for Orlando.
With a 10-for-10 performance at the free throw line, Curry is also now 66-of-67 from the charity stripe in eight games this season.
In addition to Curry, Yaxel Lendeborg continued a strong rookie season with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 6 turnovers.
The game began as a one-sided affair for the Warriors, who led by 16 at halftime only for a third-quarter run to give the Magic the lead. The rest of the game was close, with Orlando forward Jamal Cain making a putback lay-up to tie the game with two seconds left.
Curry and Lendeborg combined to score the Warriors’ final 12 points to put the game away in overtime.
It was easy to feel like the Warriors were in a bad place for the long term at the start of the season. Jimmy Butler is likely out until January. It’s unclear when Kristaps Porzingis will play basketball again. Moses Moody is also weeks away from a return.
Golden State was, and still is, an unquestionably old team committed to winning now with Curry, but got bounced in the playoffs last year and had the NBA world wondering if this was the summer they would blow it all up. They didn’t, and then they posted their worst three-game start since drafting Curry.
You don’t need to remind the Warriors of where the vibes were then, as Curry mentioned after Saturday’s game:
"We don't forget where people thought we were at the beginning of the year."
That team is now tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the longest winning streak in the NBA at seven. Next up is a home game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.