It was great night in the careers of 4 guards on Friday night. One had his first career triple double, another had his 4th, another scored a career high while the last of the 4th beat his career high set earlier in the week.
STEPHEN CURRY TRIPLE DOUBLE IN 3 QUARTERS
It only took 3 quarters for Stephen Curry to record his 4th career triple double. The triple double came against the Knicks a year after scoring a career high 54 in the Garden. He also added 5 3-pointers to his 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in 30 minutes.
“To get a win this year is bigger than any stats, but to play well and to impact the game the way I wanted to, it definitely felt great,” Curry said.
“I’ve had teammates that had big nights a year ago and right away they’re thinking, ‘I’m going to have another big night scoring the basketball,’ ” Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. “That’s not Steph Curry. He’s an unselfish basketball player and he’s all about the team.”
KYRIE IRVING GETS HIS FIRST TRIPLE DOUBLE
Surprisingly, last night was Kyrie Irving’s first triple double. The All-Star MVP’s line of 21/12/10 was also the first triple double by a Cav since March 16th of 2010 when LeBron had one.
“I was trying to not think about it too much, but my teammates were hollering at me to get one more rebound, Coach (Mike) Brown was telling to get one more rebound, a couple of fans were yelling at me that I need one more,” Irving said. “I said, ‘I got you guys, don’t worry.’ “‘
One of those fans even walked onto the court to tell Irving how much he loved him.
“He told me loved me and I told him I loved him back,” said Irving, who also had a fan enter the court at Quicken Loans Arena last season to congratulate him. “My teammates said I was scared. I don’t think I looked scared. I flinched a little bit. I was surprised.”
GORAN DRAGIC TOPS HIS CAREER HIGH THIS WEEK WITH ANOTHER CAREER HIGH
“That’s what All-Stars do,” Hornacek said
A lot of people argued before the All-Star break that Goran Dragic was an All-Star. He didn’t make the cut but has been playing like an All-NBA player and MVP since the All-Star break. The crowd even started cheering MVP for him during last night’s win over the Pelicans.
“I never imagined they would cheer that for me,” Dragic said. “It is a great feeling, especially with those last four free throws when the whole crowd stood up and cheered. It is something special in my career that I will remember my whole life.”
Dragic topped his career high of 35 earlier in the week with a 40 last night. 15 of those 40 came in the first quarter. 25 in the second half including 13 in the final quarter.
“I think everybody knows about Goran Dragic now,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said, “or they should.”
Dragic’s 40 was the first 40 point game by a Sun since Amar’e Stoudemire scored 44 in 2010.
JORDAN FARMAR SCORES CAREER HIGH 30 WITH 8 3-POINTERS
The Lakers were on fire last night, in particular Jordan Farmer who came off the bench and scored a career high 30 points. 24 of the 30 came off his 8 of 10 shooting from downtown.
“It was just the flow of the game,” Farmar said. “I was aggressive, took shots when they were available, and I was fortunate to knock them down.”
Like Curry who only played 30 minutes in his big night, Farmar accomplished his career high in just 29 minutes. He also had 7 assists, good enough for 2nd on the team, for the Lakers who came away with a 126-122 victory over the Kings.
“When we win it’s fun,” said coach Mike D’Antoni. “These guys need a little sugar once in a while, and this was sugar. We’ve been having problems, but tonight they came through and I’m really happy for them.”
I’m really happy for all 4 of the guards of the night and their fans.