Kerr reveals surprise answer for favorite Steph performance

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Warriors coach Steve Kerr has an all-time favorite Steph Curry performance, but it's not the one you're thinking of.

It's not Curry’s career-high 62 points against the Portland Trail Blazers last season. Or the 13 3-pointers he drained against the New Orleans Pelicans in 2016.

It’s not when he dropped 54 points at Madison Square Garden in ‘13 or when he hit the iconic game-winning 3-pointer in 2016 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s not even when Curry officially stamped himself as the NBA’s greatest 3-point shooter, surpassing Ray Allen for the most triples in league history.

Kerr’s favorite Steph game dates back to May 9, 2016 -- Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against Portland.

Curry was dealing with a knee injury that postseason and missed four consecutive games, including the first three of the conference semifinals. He was ready to return for Game 4 but wasn’t in the starting five.

“I actually brought him off the bench that game, probably over-coaching,” Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Grant Liffmann on the latest episode of the Dubs Talk podcast.

As the Warriors were locked in a tight playoff bout with the Trail Blazers, Curry entered the fourth quarter ice cold with just 13 points and not a single 3-point basket. He had missed all nine attempts from 3-point range, a slump unheard of from the superstar especially in a big playoff game.

With 4:35 left in regulation, Curry chucked up his 10th attempt from downtown of the night. It finally swished through. 

“He made his [10th] three and he shimmied,” Kerr said.

Like the first nine tries never happened.

“It was like the most brash display of confidence I've ever seen,” Kerr said. “It was amazing to watch. I remember telling him after the game, 'You're the only guy I've ever seen who would shimmy after he was 1-for-[10] from the 3-point line. And he just laughed.”

As he’s done so often across his 13 NBA seasons, Curry heated up in an instant after that triple and quickly poured in 10 points in the fourth quarter. When the game went into overtime, Curry was beyond blazing hot. He tallied 17 of the Warriors’ 21 overtime points -- outscoring the entire Trail Blazers team by three -- on 6-of-7 shooting, sinking all three of his shots from beyond the arc to secure the victory.

RELATED: Steph's joy, underdog story make him brightest star in sports

Curry’s 17 points after regulation still stand as an NBA record for the most points scored in overtime. His final stat line that night: 40 points on 16-of-32 shooting from the field and 5-of-16 from beyond the arc.

Oh, and he was named the first unanimous NBA Most Valuable Player the very next day.

“That's the beauty, that's the magic of Steph,” Kerr said. “He has this undying belief in himself. Belief in good things happening. He just has this infectious spirit and energy that our fans pick up on, our team picks up on. 

“And it's carried our team in a lot of ways over the years.”

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