The Stephen Curry shimmy is a sight to behold. It's a sight the Houston Rockets are tired of seeing. When Curry hit the Rockets with the shimmy in a 41-point win by the Golden State Warriorsin Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, it represented a return to form for Curry:
Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul and Curry have been rivals for most of the 2010s. It mostly started with Paul and Curry going at it while Paul was with the LA Clippers, and Paul ceded the "best point guard alive" title to a player who won multiple MVPs and championships. It was revealed earlier this month that Paul was something of a mentor to fellow North Carolina native Curry.
Well, Paul had enough of Curry's notorious gesture in Game 5. While Paul struggled in the first half, missing all seven of his field goal attempts, he made a go-ahead 29-foot 3-pointer over Curry's defense to give Houston a 59-57 lead with 6:29 left in the third quarter. It was Paul's third 3-pointer of the quarter.
Afterward, Paul showed Curry his own shimmy:
It was just another moment in what has been a heated series between the Rockets and Warriors and in the rivalry between Paul and Curry. It definitely did not go unnoticed, and that included Curry himself.
"It was well-deserved. It was a tough shot," Curry said of Paul, who left Houston's 98-94 Game 5 win with a hamstring injury. "If you can shimmy on somebody else, you've got to be all right getting shimmied on. So I'll keep shimmying, and maybe he will too."
Here's how others reacted to Paul's moves: