Curry scores 41 as Warriors outlast Magic in OT

Stephen Curry scored 41 points with six rebounds and six assists as the Golden State Warriors beat the Orlando Magic 126-119 in overtime on Saturday, ESPN reported.

Franz Wagner led the Magic with 30 points and 11 assists. Orlando forced overtime with a 32-point fourth quarter, outscoring Golden State 32-20 in the final period of regulation.

The Warriors scored 16 points in the extra session to pull away. Curry had nine points in overtime.

What the coverage missed

The Magic scored 32 in the fourth quarter to force OT. That is the story, not Curry’s 41. Golden State’s defense collapsed in the final 12 minutes of regulation. They gave up open threes, they lost Wagner on cuts, and they fouled in the penalty. The Warriors won because Curry bailed them out, not because they played well.

Orlando is 2-7. They have lost five straight. But they took the Warriors to overtime in San Francisco. That says more about Golden State’s defense than it does about Orlando’s offense.

What I think

Curry is doing Curry things. Forty-one points on a Saturday night in November is just another line in the box score for him. The question is whether the Warriors can defend well enough to win in the playoffs. Right now, they cannot. They let a 2-7 team score 119 points and force overtime.

The Magic are bad, but Wagner is a real player. Thirty points and 11 assists is a stat line that gets you paid. If Orlando can build around him, they have a piece. They just do not have enough pieces yet.