Double martini, double cheeseburger, double Jeopardy, double U (as in win), virtually anytime there’s a times-two, it’s a good thing. And then there’s the double that was designated to celebrate a three:
“Bang! Bang!”
Such was the breathless gasp from Mike Breen, the play-by-play voice of ABC’s coverage of the NBA, while calling the Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game 10 years ago today. It was not just any game, and Breen wasn’t describing the actions of just any player.
This was a signature moment by Stephen Curry, which says plenty considering Curry has a garage full of them. This was his epic 3-point shot to cap an epic finish in that game. This was immortalized by Breen’s excitement — and he wasn’t the only one who nearly lost his voice while witnessing this spectacle.
This shot, a mesmerizingly memorable one, became known as the double-banger.
On Feb. 27, 2016, Stephen Curry hit one of his most famous 3-pointers to defeat the Thunder.
Breen almost always uses a single bang to capture greatness; that’s why the double bang hit so hard. But there was no choice. Curry’s flurry demanded it. Only a player such as Curry could take a February game and give it some June juice.
Curry’s shot with less than a second remaining was the game winner in overtime, breaking a 118-all tie. He launched it from roughly 40 feet and incredibly, it didn’t look or seem like luck, either. It wasn’t a heave and it wasn’t any doubt.
The theatrics of the shot alone wouldn’t be worthy of a bang-bang. Instead, it was the culmination of a lot of things that day and time in 2016 — Curry at his absolute peak, the defending champion Warriors in the midst of a record-breaking 73-win regular season, the Thunder with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (three MVPs total on the floor) looming as Golden State’s biggest threat, and a game shown in prime time that caused whiplash with so much back-and-forth drama.
It was Curry’s 12th shot from deep, tying the single-game record for most 3-pointers made (since broken by his then-teammate, Klay Thompson). He had 46 points to rally the Warriors, who only led by a total of 29 seconds, and OKC was totally helpless trying to stop the swishes. In the dead of winter, Curry’s shot breathed life into a quiet sports calendar and dominated media talk for days.
Years later, Breen would say:
“That was an out-of-body experience. I can’t explain that. It just happened. Because that was the year that everything was falling into place for them. It was that magical run. He was as good as anyone has ever played from long distance … they had this amazing winning streak, and it was (seemingly) all over. And then he comes down and does that at the end. So, I kind of lost it on that. That was so memorable because of all the circumstances surrounding the game.”
Here’s the setup:
The Warriors rolled into OKC with a 52-5 mark, seemingly unstoppable. Not only were they dominant, they were entertaining, so naturally, they were must-see TV. And they stared across the court from the Thunder, bringing a measly (by comparison) 41-17 record and, like the Warriors, seemed dominant, though not with such regularity.
Anyway: OKC rushed to an 18-5 lead and were up 11 points at halftime. From there, it was on, but not without a scare.
Curry fell hard a few minutes into the third quarter and limped into the locker room. For a player with a history of ankle sprains — none since early in his career, but still — this was concerning. At least until he returned without a grimace just moments later.
So what does Curry do? Well, score 31 points in the second half and OT combined. The Warriors were down 11 with five minutes left but chipped away at the deficit. Back-to-back 3s by Curry and Thompson cut the OKC lead to one with 35 seconds left.
After a Durant dagger 3-pointer for a four-point lead, Thompson scored on a quick layup and Durant then fouled Andre Iguodala, who forced the extra period with a pair of free throws in the final second of regulation. Westbrook missed a jumper with eight seconds left in overtime of a tied game, setting up Curry’s crusher.
He dribbled across midcourt, took a few steps and launched. The Thunder defense froze, never expecting Curry to shoot so quickly and from such a distance. That element of surprise was in Curry’s favor; the shot was a bit uncontested.
Curry said: “I’ve shot the shot plenty of times, you’re coming across half court and timing up your dribbles, and you want to shoot before
