SACRAMENTO -- There are players hiding on every NBA bench that are just waiting for their opportunity to shine. Unfortunately, not everyone gets that shot and even if they do, they don’t always make the most of it.
Seth Curry got the chance to steal minutes early in the season when point guard Darren Collison missed five games with a left hamstring strain. Unfortunately, Curry came up lame with an injury of his own and his shot at legitimate NBA minutes was once again put on hold.
On Saturday night in Oakland, Curry got a call late in the game as the Warriors were trouncing the Kings. Golden State was well on their way to their record 18-0 start to the season and Curry picked up a little over nine minutes as George Karl waived the white flag.
With little to lose, and his league MVP Stephen Curry sitting just feet away on the Warriors bench, Seth took the court and dropped in nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from long range. The Oracle crowd gave Steph’s younger brother a nice ovation as he bombed away in a similar fashion to his big brother.
It appears that Karl liked what he saw out of Curry. On Monday night, with shooting guard Marco Belinelli under the weather and struggling on the floor, the veteran coach turned to his bench and once again called Curry’s number.
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“He’s been a pro, he’s worked hard,” George Karl said following the Kings win. “I think he has more of a playmaking knack in mind, plus I think he’ll prove to be a damn good shooter.”
Curry’s played 81 games over two seasons worth of stints in the D-League. He’s hardly had a sniff of action in the league after going undrafted out of Duke in the 2013 NBA Draft, but he seized his opportunity once again.
The 6-foot-1 combo-guard played 20 meaningful minutes against a very good Dallas Mavericks team, finishing with eight points on 2-of-3 shooting, both of his makes coming from 3-point land. In nine games this season, Curry has now hit 9-of-12 from behind the arc in his limited minutes.
“It’s extremely hard,” Collison said of Curry. “I don’t know how he does it. I don’t know how he sits almost the whole game and comes in and just starts hitting threes.”
His numbers don’t jump off the page, but his ability to stretch the floor instantly opened up lanes for big man DeMarcus Cousins and others. He played solid defense and even showed the ability to break a defense down off the dribble.
“It’s tough mentally more than anything,” Curry said. “(I’m) just staying engaged in the game. When I wasn’t playing as much, I just try to use what little minutes I get in the game to try and make them count and try to get a rhythm off that.”
With Rajon Rondo manning the majority of the minutes at the point guard position and Collison playing the role of super-sub, Curry is in a dogfight for a spot in the rotation. Showing that he can bring a specific skill set to the floor on a nightly basis is only going to help his stock.
