Monday night’s game in Houston, where the Rockets hosted the Warriors, made news for multiple reasons.
First, it saw Curry’s first high-scoring efficient performance in over a month. Golden State superstar guard scored a game-high 40 points in the team’s 122-108 victory, and the second involved a moment in the third quarter between Curry and opposing guard Kevin Porter Jr.
MORE: Is Curry’s shooting slump over with 40-point eruption?
For more on the viral moment from the Rockets-Warriors game at the Toyota Center, here’s all you need to know:
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What is the Stephen Curry and Kevin Porter Jr. “beef”?
Around the four-minute mark of the third quarter, the Rockets young guard was called for an off-ball foul on Curry and he didn’t seem pleased.
After sharing his displeasure with the official, Porter Jr. stared down Curry. He pulled his shorts up and crouched into a defensive stance as the duo waited for play to resume.
Steph is just ignoring Kevin Porter Jr. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/gzPi7mifhU
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 1, 2022
Later, he even jawed in the direction of the Warriors’ bench after he made a basket before a timeout. However, The two-time former MVP didn’t seem to add fuel to the fire, and just ignored all of Porter Jr.’s antics.
That dust-up seemed to have ignited Curry, who went off for 21 points in the fourth quarter and ensured the Warriors left the Toyota Center with the win.
Postgame reaction
After the final buzzer, it was clear that neither player had any carryover emotion from that moment in the third quarter as they embraced and talked near half-court.
“I can do a good job of separating the 48 minutes and everything else in terms of ‘giving back to the game’,” Curry told reporters postgame. “Had a lot of people do that for me. He had a solid question about how I approach a certain part of the game. Wanted to give him what I knew.”
No beef here, Steph gave Kevin Porter Jr. some advice after the game 🤝 pic.twitter.com/kdKQtX9v6x
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 1, 2022
While Curry played it down with a lot of dignity, the young Rockets guard wasn’t far behind in not making much of it.
“Actually, like 30 seconds left, I went up to him and I asked him for some pointers,” Porter Jr. told reporters after the game. “Being an MVP, first unanimous one, that’s someone I can learn from.”
“A player like that [Curry], you’ve got to take the challenge because at the end of the day, it’s going to better you. There’s no other way. It’s going to better you because you’re competing against him.”
He further made his stance clear on Twitter.
Locced in. 😂 competing against the best gotta bring yo shit! No cap 😂🤞🏾 steph is steph haha
— Scoot (@Kevinporterjr) February 1, 2022
Safe to say, there was never any beef between these two players during the game nor did any spill-over postgame.