SAN FRANCISCO — As he backpedaled following his stepback 3-pointer over P.J. Washington in front of Dallas’ bench, Steph Curry pulled out his now world-famous celebration. Night. Night.
The oddity about this one, however, was that 2 minutes, 50 seconds remained. In the third quarter.
Curry shunned his usual concerns about pulling out his gesture too early. His one worry is pulling out the celebration and then losing the game. But in a rare instance, Curry did not filter his confidence, giving no regard to the potential for shame. He had revenge on his heart. Curry remembered on Feb. 12 when Washington co-opted Curry’s celebration gesture in the Mavericks’ win over Golden State in Dallas. It didn’t sit well with the Warriors that Washington didn’t play that night.
So when Curry got the chance, he pulled it out for Washington and simultaneously flexed the newfound certainty he is feeling these days.
“The Night-Night stuff is never really predictable,” Curry said. “ It’s just whenever I’m feeling it. And you gotta be good to do it.”
A month ago, he was giving bleak state-of-the-Warriors news conferences after every brutal defeat. Now, he’s trolling his foes midway through the second half. Curry hasn’t exuded this much audaciousness since he pointed to his ring finger in Boston in the third quarter of Game 6 in the 2022 NBA Finals.
Witness the impact of Jimmy Butler.
“One hundred percent,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Jimmy gives us some swagger.”
When Draymond Green predicted a Warriors championship on Feb. 16, sharing that bold message on the TNT airwaves during NBA All-Star Weekend after making the same declaration privately in the days before, it was fair to wonder about the origins of his newfound cockiness. The answer, according to the Warriors who matter most, is born out of the lessons learned during the dynastic run they want so badly to extend. They recognize the team’s higher ceiling since acquiring Butler from Miami. A familiar sense of viability has returned.
“I just know what it looks like,” Green told The Athletic when asked to explain his proclamation. “This team all year has been kind of like, ‘Man, we’re right there, but can’t quite get over the hump.’ But there’s a reason that you feel like you’re right there, but can’t quite get over.
“And the reason I think we all thought we couldn’t quite get over was because there was a missing piece. That piece isn’t missing anymore. That piece is him.”
The Warriors have been in search of this combination of talent and aura — perhaps since 2019 when Kevin Durant departed for free agency. As their foundational trio of Curry, Green and Klay Thompson aged, the need became increasingly apparent. It was exacerbated when Thompson left in free agency and as their young hopefuls proved not yet ready for such expectations.
The Warriors checked in on LeBron James at the 2024 trade deadline. They tried to fill the void by going after Paul George and Lauri Markkanen last summer but couldn’t get a massive deal done. They even came close to reuniting with Durant. League and team sources said they had the structure of a deal agreed upon after Phoenix reached out to Golden State, but they decided against pushing the button after learning Durant wasn’t interested.
It all led to Butler, who also was in search of a franchise to maximize his talents. And his wallet.
“Jimmy almost won the championship leading the team — twice,” Green said of Butler, who signed a two-year, $112 million extension with the Warriors that runs through the summer of 2027. “So he just needed a little bit more to get over the hump. I think we needed a little more to get over the hump. You combine those two together, and this one guy with an undying passion and wants to win a championship. It’s like burning for that.
“And then there are some guys who have done it before but are burning to f—ing do it at least one more time. You mix the two together with the know-how — because Jimmy knows how. Obviously, we know how. And what you get is what everybody’s going to see.”
It’s been six games, capped with the Warriors 126-102 deconstructing of the hobbled Mavericks. Not coincidentally, Sunday’s foe represented the lone loss in Golden State’s Butler era, that four-point defeat in Dallas on Feb. 12 prompting Washington’s taunt.
The shift toward becoming a more balanced, two-way team has been evident. With Green and Butler still among the game’s best defenders, and the pieces of the Warriors puzzle around them suddenly fitting in so well, they’ve had the league’s sixth-best defensive rating and the sixth-best offensive rating since Butler’s debut on Feb. 8. Before Butler’s arrival, the Warriors ranked No. 10 in defensive rating and No. 18 in offensive rating. The Warriors’ net rating, 16th before the trade, is fifth since.
For Butler’s part, this immaculate vibe has everything to do with what these Warriors represent. He spent much of his six seasons in Miami wishing team president Pat Riley would add more firepower to the roster, reaching the NBA Finals twice despite big man Bam Adebayo being the only other All-Star in the Heat’s employ. Yet now, with future Hall of Famers like Curry and Green having embraced him during these early days that have gone so well, Butler agrees with Green’s bullish view on what might lie ahead.
“I don’t pay attention to social (media), so I didn’t know that (Green) said that,” Butler told The Athletic between sips of a beer in the visiting locker room in Sacramento after Friday night’s win over the Kings. “But we do have a chance. And the reason why is not because I’m here. It’s not because of the energy that I may or may not bring. It’s because everybody thinks that we can win. That’s all that matters.
