Barclays Center was tingling long before 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
Steph Curry — and by extension, the Golden State Warriors — were in town. In 2025, we are not just sure that he is one of the greatest basketball players ever, but that there will never be another. Sooner or later, there will be a player whose “greatness” rivals or even surpasses that of Steph; that is the one inevitability of sport. But there will never be a player, a phenomenon, like him.
A week shy Steph’s his 37th birthday, this knowledge is heavy. As we prepare for the end of his career, we are preparing for a death of sorts. Or at least a terrible breakup.
So Barclays was packed, and it was packed early. With Nets fans, with media members just finding out D’Angelo Russell is back on Brooklyn’s roster, with casual fans crossing an item off their basketball bucket-list, and of course, with Steph Curry Loyalists.
Naturally, the Brooklyn Nets showed up, as they do under Jordi Fernández; they come out with hyper-detailed game-plans against the game’s greats, and Thursday night was no different.
Within the first two minutes of the game, Nic Claxton had successfully denied Draymond Green the ball in the post, preventing Golden State from running their patented off-ball actions. Brooklyn’s guards were trapping in the backcourt, and Keon Johnson wrestled with Steph Curry all over the court.
And the Nets punked their rockstar opponents, who could not keep their composure in a 35-15 first quarter for the home team...
Steph commits an offensive foul 90 feet out, Steve Kerr gets a tech, the Warriors are down 25-5 early.
"He's f***ing grabbing him first!" pic.twitter.com/T8GJvvvJLU
— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 7, 2025
Golden State wasn’t unjustified in their reaction. The referees did not call a single foul on Brooklyn in an impossibly physical first quarter, which set the tone for a night of whistles without rhyme or reason. As Ziaire Williams and Gary Payton II got tangled up for double techs at the end of the period, Steve Kerr told the crew “this is what happens.”
No matter; the basketball was fantastic. Brooklyn deserved the 20-point lead they built thanks to their communication and hustle, in addition to their brute force. Ever the antagonists, they woke a sleepy Golden State team up.
Steph went nuts upon checking back in in the second quarter, and gave us one more all-time highlight in a career full of them, cutting the margin to five at halftime...
Pregame, Jordi Fernández said: “You can never relax, especially when you play against the best shooter in the world, in the history of the NBA, and his ability to just shoot every possible way. Off the dribble, moving, catch-and-shoot, like, any way possible. I think that one of the keys against this team is: Don’t get discouraged, because you know he’s going to make some crazy shots, and you cannot shrug your shoulders ... When they score, just take it out and go the other way. That’s the best thing you can do.”
While Steph continued upping his ante in the second half, the Nets continued to heed Fernández’s words. They’d turn it over just 12 times on the night, shooting 51/46/89. Nic Claxton initiated much offense from the high-post, and nearly triple-doubled with 8/9/10/2/2, a career-high in assists, many of them leading to layups.
Though neither ever caught a heater, Cam Johnson and Cam Thomas had near identical stat-lines that evident of solid decision-making throughout: 26/5/4 on 9-of-16 for Johnson, 23/3/7 on 8-of-17 for Thomas...
They were mainly supported by Tyrese Martin off the bench who scored 17 points from both the perimeter and the paint.
Fernández was full of praise for Martin postgame: “He shows up and works every day with a good attitude, and he’s a great teammate. So, that’s what we want from everybody, but it’s not that easy to do it. He’s doing it consistently, and that’s why he deserves all those good things that he’s doing, that are coming his way.”
Despite all the offensive contributors, the Nets could not separate in the second half, with their defense starting to crack. Over the first 24 minutes, Golden State had an offensive rating of just 80.0 in the half-court, and their transition attack completely saved them.
But after the break, Golden State’s perpetual motion in the half-court caused breakdowns, leading to slips to the rim for twos. Steph would end up with 40 points on 12-of-the-20-most-difficult-shots-you’ve-ever-seen, but his teammates did not have to work so hard. Typical Steph.
The Warriors also excelled when he headed to the bench. Their star ended up with a plus/minus of -16, as Jimmy Butler (25 points) led bench units that dominated the beginning of the third and fourth quarters. Golden State clawed in front by eight in the final frame, and every point felt like a bullet to the chest knowing Steph was ready and waiting.
Fittingly, he delivered the death blow on his lone clean look of the night...
Doubling Draymond Green to leave Steph open in the corner is not the fate the Nets deserved after 47 minutes of all-out effort, but it’s the one they got.
Said Fernández. “We were right there the whole game. And again, playing a team like this face-to face the whole time, I’m proud of the guys. Obviously, I want to be better defensively in that second half or second quarter through fourth but, you know, we got better.”
Cam Thomas hit a 3-pointer form the logo to cut it to two in the game’s dying seconds, as Brooklyn neared a repeat of their miraculous victory over the Houston Rockets in February, but they’d have no such luck on Thursday. Steph was fouled, made a couple freebies in a total mismatch for Mr. Whammy, and Cam Johnson made a put-back, window-dressing layup.
The Brooklyn Nets played a whale of a game, hard-fought and well-executed against an opponent that is 10-1 since trading for Jimmy Butler, led by an inimitable talent. In the end, they were little more than a foil. Worse things to be, I guess.
Final Score: Golden State Warriors 121, Brooklyn Nets 119