Stephen Curry shined in the late stages of Game 7 against the Houston Rockets in their first-round playoff matchup on Sunday night, scoring 14 of his 22 total points in the fourth quarter to close out the series with a 103-89 win.
After losing a gut-wrenching Game 6 on their home floor Friday night by a score 115-107, Golden State's 4-time NBA champion put his mental fortitude and all-time clutch gene on full display to send the Rockets packing after a Game 7 battle in enemy territory.
The 37-year-old also notched 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks to complement the Warriors' MVP of the night Buddy Hield, who finished the game with 33 points and nine hits from three-point range in 11 tries.
In the immediate aftermath of Golden State's relieving victory, Curry was asked in a post-game interview about his group's ability to close out the hard-fought series and move on to the next round, to which he responded with a jab at the team's detractors.
"It’s a lot of resilience, everybody’s stepping up," Curry told TNT Sports’ Lauren Jbara after the close-out win Sunday night.
"Everybody’s been talking about our team (for) the last two games in terms of our execution, energy, all that."
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"We kind of blocked it all out and just understood that we have 48 minutes to dig deep."
Golden State received plenty of flak for their underwhelming Game 6 performance, as the entire roster looked to be out of sorts and mentally fatigued when met with the Rockets' swarming defense.
Curry clearly entered Game 7 against Houston with these comments in mind, which subsequently led to the all-time great's wonderful display of play-making and offensive creation against one of the league's most physical defensive units.
With the Warriors coming out on top, the Minnesota Timberwolves and superstar guard Anthony Edwards await the team as their second-round opponent.
Since their series against Houston was extended to a seventh game, they'll only have a two-day break before Game 1 of their Western Conference Semi-Final series against Minnesota tips off on Tuesday night.
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