There are games where Steph Curry drops 50 and the building shakes, and then there are games like Monday night in Denver, where he barely shot in the first half and still walked out of Ball Arena with the cleanest stat line of his career.
Curry made all eight of his field-goal attempts, went a perfect 3-of-3 from deep, and knocked down all five of his free throws. That’s 24 points with zero misses and zero hope for the Nuggets. And the 134-114 win in Denver was Golden State’s first of the season,
which means the first W of 2026-27 came with a bow on it. Did you know that the Warriors are officially undefeated in franchise history when Steph doesn’t miss a shot from the field?
If you tuned in early and saw Curry’s box score at the break, you’d have assumed something was wrong with his back. He took exactly one shot in 14 first-half minutes. The man has lapped the entire history of the sport in three-pointers and he spent the first two quarters with his shooting hand holstered.
He wasn’t hiding, though. He was setting the table, throwing a long outlet to Podziemski for an easy bucket after Podz beat everybody down the floor, and letting Denver get comfortable guarding everyone else. With Steph taking just one shot, the Warriors still went into halftime up 60-56.
Then the third quarter happened, and Curry went Unanimous MVP mode.
Curry scored 17 of his 24 in the third period, and most of that came in a burst over just 7:30 of game clock, the kind of stretch where you stop watching the ball and start watching the Denver bench just to see who’s going to be the first guy to put a towel over his head. And he did all of this in 26 minutes and change, which is the part that should make every Western Conference coach a little nervous heading into his 18th season.
For a guy who’s made more insane shots than basically anyone who’s ever picked up a basketball, perfect nights have been almost nonexistent. This game was only his second time accomplishing the feat. The first came back in 2011, when sophomore Steph went 5-of-5 (3-of-3 from three) for 14 points in a 102-89 win over the New Orleans Hornets. So Monday’s 24 is the most he’s ever scored without missing, which is a very different thing from his career high, and also a very funny thing to be able to say about the greatest shooter alive.
The New Orleans Hornets?! That’s how long ago it was, folks. Monta Ellis was still the guy in the backcourt and Steph was still the skinny kid people wondered about with the ankles. We’re talking witnessing two perfect shooting games in fifteen years that have led to two Warriors wins.
How long can that last? Through the season’s first three games, Curry is averaging 23.7 points on 52.6 percent from the field, and Monday was the loudest possible proof that the gas tank isn’t anywhere near empty.
But the thing worth remembering about this night in Denver is what happened before the perfect part kicked in. Steph Curry went 8-for-8, and somehow he still wasn’t the only reason the Warriors won. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg poured in a career-high 31 points with 12 rebounds, while Podziemski added 18, Gui Santos chipped in 13 and Al Horford had 11.
If Golden State can keep giving him that kind of help, maaaaybe the 38-year-old won’t have to be perfect every night.
