In their game five win, the Golden State Warriors not only extended the NBA Finals series to the sixth game; moving the series back to Oakland with a chance to tie the series up, but Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green all moved up the list of the players that have scored the most points scored in the NBA Finals.
The Warriors’ core four of Curry, Klay, Draymond and Andre Iguodala have competed in five straight Championship series and the NBA Finals leading scorers list reflects that. Their dominance has not only transformed the league, but the Golden State Warriors influenced the spreads in the casinos (get in on it with www.pointspromo.codes) and what skills kids are emulating on the playground — see shooting once they pass half court.
Kevin Durant has only been to four of those NBA Finals including the 12 minutes he played in Game 5 before snapping his Achilles in the second quarter. Even so, Durant is still 34th all time, tied with Boston Celtic Tom Sanders, with 455 points. Here’s where the five Warriors players rank on the list.
Rank | Player | Points | NBA Finals |
---|---|---|---|
15 | Stephen Curry | 720 | 5 |
30 | Klay Thompson | 478 | 5 |
34 | Kevin Durant | 455 | 4 |
55 | Draymond Green | 333 | 5 |
75 | Andre Iguodala | 257 | 5 |
With 720 total points as of this post, Curry passed up Larry Bird (716) on the list for 15th overall. Curry will likely pass up Lakers legend George Mikan in game six. Mikan has 741 points. Next up on the list for Curry are four Los Angeles Laker legends, one that he has a chance of catching (James Worth with 754 points) and three others that he’ll need another NBA Finals appearance or two to surpass up Shaquille O’Neal (865) Kobe Bryant (937), and Magic Johnson (971).
With 478 points, Klay Thompson will certainly pass up the recently-retired Tony Parker (479) in the next game, needing to score just two points. After that, Klay won’t likely move up the list unless the Warriors (or whatever team he ends up with in free agency) make another Finals appearance. As it stands he’s approximately 80 points behind Kevin McHale and Julius Erving.
Number 55 on the list is Draymond Green having scored 333 NBA Finals points. This last game he passed up Byron Scott, Elvin Hayes and Walt Frazier. The emotional point forward needs just five points to take over Dick Barnett and Chris Bosh with Ray Allen in his sights (347).
In the same area on the list is the Warriors’ opponent Kawhi Leonard who has amassed 340 points in three NBA Finals appearances with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors. If he scores 25 points in game 6, Leonard will leapfrog several NBA legends in Allen (347), Gail Goodrich and Robert Horry (358), Kyrie Irving (360), the Detroit Pistons’ Isiah Thomas (361) and Warriors’ great Rick Barry (363).
However, none of them feel nearly as significant as Curry passing up Bird. As we live through these moments in real time, we sometimes lose sight to how great Curry really is. His surpassing Larry Bird, one of the best players and greatest winners in the history of the league, provides us with the context we need to really appreciate the greatness of Curry now.