A brief reminder that Stephen Curry is magic (Ball Don’t Lie)

This is how Stephen Curry started Monday night's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder: Oh, nothing much to see there. Just pulling down the rebound of a Russell Westbrook miss, taking it the length of the floor, weaving through four Thunderers who tracked back in transition, then ever-so-slightly hesitating while freezing Westbrook with a fake dump-off pass to a trailing Harrison Barnes that turned into a left-handed between-the-legs dribble and a too-easy scoop layup at the tin. Fluid as you please, easy as you like, two points, Golden State Warriors lead. What makes Curry so special, and what makes this particular iteration of the All-Star point guard so exhilarating, is that such a play has become less leave-you-slack-jawed rarity than still-leaves-you-slack-jawed routine. He does stuff like this all the time now, and he kept doing it all night to the Thunder, who have charged back into the Western Conference playoff conversation thanks to the returns of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but who have to come away from Monday's 117-91 pasting feeling like they'll need a heck of a lot more than a new reserve shooting guard to throw hands with a team as deep and deadly as the Dubs. Just watch the ease with which Curry toyed with Thunder defenders at Oracle Arena on Monday night, periodically reminding yourself that he frequently found himself one-on-one with Westbrook — perhaps the most athletically gifted and physically imposing point man in the league — and appreciating that he almost never found himself one-on-one with Westbrook for long, because almost as soon as Russ gathered himself, Steph was gone: What's crazy, as Trey Kerby of The Starters noted Tuesday morning, is that this isn't even a comprehensive cut-up of all the cool things Curry did in leading the Warriors to their fourth straight win and their 14th victory in 15th home games, improving Golden State's league-best record to 27-5. It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of all the rad things he does on a nightly basis, because they seem to be popping up on just about every possession, every time he touches the ball, every time he scans the floor and starts running through his options. Pull up from 31 feet away just because? Sure. Break out your All-Star Game handle in the first 60 seconds of an actual game against a prospective playoff opponent? Why not? Shake Westbrook before taking staggered high screens, leaving Serge Ibaka toppling over after splitting the pick-and-roll and nutmegging Oklahoma City big man Steven Adams to set Marreesse Speights up for a dunk? (Credit Adams for recovering to reject Speights' attempt , which might have been the only thing that prevented Oracle from imploding like an AND-1 Mixtape Tour venue.) Yes, yes and yes. Sure thing. Calm as can be, totally in rhythm and in the flow of the offense, never seeming like he's hunting for highlights as much as he's expressing just how excited he is to be able to do nearly anything he wants with the ball in his hands. I mean, if you could, wouldn't you? I was lucky enough to be able to take the month of December off and be a full-time stay-at-home dad to my infant daughter while my wife went back to work. We didn't watch a whole lot of basketball during that time; we mostly read stories, sang songs and cleaned spit-up and poop. (OK, that last one was kind of a one-way street.) As I sat in the living room late Monday, one eye on the big screen and the other the monitor in case she rolled over, I found myself thinking, "Oh, right . That's why it's worth watching random games into the wee hours of Tuesdays in the winter, and making sure you're set up in time for tipoff, and that you stick around even in the throes of 20-point blowouts." It's because Stephen Curry can always happen, and he's happening just about all the time at this point. And even on nights where his stat line isn't grab-you-by-the-throat great — 19 points on 50 percent shooting, nine rebounds, six assists, four steals and just two turnovers in 31-plus minutes — that happening can become the burst of blood in your chest that helps get you to tomorrow. He's not the only one in blue and yellow pulling off those sorts of tricks on a near-nightly basis these days, what with Draymond Green (11 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 29 minutes) filling in every blank, Klay Thompson (19 points in 19 minutes) climbing the ladder and cocking the hammer , Harrison Barnes (a team-high 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go with seven rebounds) continuing his resurgence and that bear of a defense continuing to throttle the opposition even without injured interior fulcrum Andrew Bogut. But while the Warriors without Stephen Curry would probably still be a very good team in a very good conference, the Warriors with Stephen Curry are magic, pure and simple — a beautiful reminder of what some of us had been missing and a thrilling indicator of how much more there is to look forward to. More NBA coverage: - - - - - - - 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! Follow @YourManDevine Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL , "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

A brief reminder that Stephen Curry is magic (Ball Don’t Lie)

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