Stephen Curry said Charlotte's defenders sticking to him "is flattering" and noted he can use the intense attention to help his team, even if it's sometimes "not real basketball."
The Golden State Warriors cruised to a 136-116 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night, even though Stephen Curry had an unusually quiet outing.
Curry found himself under intense pressure for much of the game, with two Hornets defenders sticking to him almost everywhere he went.
A viral moment even captured Collin Sexton still guarding Curry as he pretended to walk down the tunnel.
"Yeah, we both knew what we were doing there. We were having fun," Steph said about that moment after the game.
When asked if being guarded so aggressively bothered him during a regular-season game, Curry had a measured response.
"There's a part of you that fights it just because it's not real basketball, but there's also a part of it that it's flattering, just knowing that you demand that much attention and also what it does to create shots for other guys on the floor," he explained. "And I've seen it all, so I know if that's how they want to guard, how I can be effective, not let it take me out of the game, but also use it to our advantage as a team.
"And then it's also funny at times just how egregious it is," Steph added. "There's one possession, I actually looked at the footage. I actually stayed back in the back court a long time on purpose just to see how long Sion [James] would stay with me, so that was a fun one."
On the stat sheet, Curry finished with 14 points and five assists over 29.5 minutes. He struggled a bit from deep, hitting just 2 of 8 three-pointers and finishing 6 of 12 overall from the field.
With the win, Golden State improved to 24-19 on the season. The Warriors will look to keep the momentum going when they face the Miami Heat on Monday.
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