NBA scores 2017: How Stephen Curry found his 3-point shooting stroke again

Stephen Curry missed his first three jump shots on Sunday. In any other circumstance, that statistic wouldn’t be notable. But in this one, it was a reminder that Curry came into the game shooting 4-of-31 behind the three-point line in his last three games.

There’s no sugarcoating it: Curry has never slumped this badly in his career. It’s not just the first quarter on Sunday, or the previous three-game stretch — from Feb. 8 until Sunday, Curry was shooting 27.5 percent on 9.1 three-point attempts per game. Because we’ve seen Curry shoot that many threes for two straight seasons while being much more efficient, we know that’s an anomaly.

Here’s how bad it was, part one: Curry went to the free throw line halfway through the second quarter against the Knicks and missed both free throws. Here’s how bad it was, part two: at one point in the first half, Steve Kerr took extra time to gently remind Curry his shots aren’t the problem and he’s still making a positive impact on the floor (Curry was plus-10 at halftime despite the one-point Knicks lead).

Given all that, a 15-point third quarter is exactly what Curry needed — and a huge part of it came at the rim. Curry opened the quarter with a three, but he followed it with three layups in the final 4:37 of the quarter, including this spinning beauty.

That’s the thing — Curry is the best shooter we’ve ever seen in the history of basketball capable of hitting shots from a dizzying number of spots on the floor, but also a deadly finisher with frightening touch and creativity around the rim. When things get tough outside, teams still fear his jumper regardless. That will always set him up to drive the ball closer.

It’s premature to say Curry’s slump is over, but we’re all pretty sure he’ll be back to where he normally is before long. Kevin Durant is absent, but Durant wasn’t even on the team the past two years, and that’s when Curry won a couple MVPs.

Buzzer-beaters

Two of seven Sunday games were won at the buzzer.

The first was off a Tyler Ulis steal and three-pointer to give the Suns a win over the Celtics.

The second came off the finger tips of Jazz big man Rudy Gobert to give his team the win over the Kings in overtime.

The bucket was initially waved off for basket interference, but a review reversed the call.

Wesley Matthews locked down Russell Westbrook

Willie Cauley-Stein had the Missed Dunk of the Year

Sunday’s final scores

Wizards 115, Magic 114 (Bullets Forever recap | Orlando Pinstriped Post recap)

Warriors 112, Knicks 105 (Golden State of Mind recap | Posting & Toasting recap)

Suns 109, Celtics 106 (Bright Side of the Sun recap | Celtics Blog recap)

Pacers 97, Hawks 96 (Indy Cornrows recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)

Jazz 110, Kings 109 ( SLC Dunk recap| Sactown Royalty recap)

Mavericks 104, Thunder 89 (Mavs Moneyball recap | Welcome to Loud City recap)

Pelicans 105, Lakers 97 (The Bird Writes recap | Silver Screen and Roll recap)