At last, Stephen Curry the MVP shows up in the 2015 NBA Finals.
While flashes of his season-long brilliance were seen in the final quarter of the previous contest, Game 4 is when the Golden State Warrior's spiritual leader decided to wake up and lead his team to a 21-point romping of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It was as if all the people in the world knew all along that this is bound to happen. SB Nation's Zito Madu was right: the reigning MVP is "too good to struggle this much" especially in the championship round.
A lot of basketball purists are saying that it was Andre Iguodala who made the difference in the Warriors' sudden uprising. That it was Steve Kerr's brilliant insertion of his sixth man in the starting lineup that changed the pace, and the tide, of the game toward the Dubs' up-and-down, free-wheeling style of basketball.
But, no. Kerr himself was quick to refute that suggestion.
"I don't think the biggest difference was the starting lineup or the adjustment we made," Kerr said during the post-game interview with the media as per the NBA's official website. "I think the biggest difference was we played a lot harder."
True. And it was Curry who exhibited what "playing a lot harder" means like from Game 4's get-go.
Yes, he co-led the team in scoring with Iguodala by having 22 points, but that was because he was also busy facilitating and getting his teammates involved in their trademark fluid offense. He knows that getting this motor well-oiled and running will be the key for them to win the title.
The series goes back to Oakland on Sunday night. With Curry and the Warriors finding their gears loaded and lubricated once again, bloody LeBron and the Cavs should be in for another romping unless they can do something about it.