The monstrosity on the priceless arm that carries with it the Golden State Warriors' championship hopes had swollen to the size of a small lemon. But instead of voicing concern, the two-time MVP had jokes.
"He said it looked like the cartoon, Popeye," Clark told The Vertical after Curry used that same cartoonish-looking elbow to destroy the Oklahoma City Thunder and restore the Warriors’ confidence in a two-minute, Steph-gonna-Steph display in the third quarter of a 118-91 victory on Wednesday night that evened the Western Conference finals at one game apiece.
In the cartoons, Popeye needed a can of spinach to make his arms swell up so he could wind up and clobber his foes.
On Wednesday, Curry's arm seemingly sprouted a third Splash Brother after he lunged over the front-row seats along the baseline in the first quarter while trying to track down a loose ball and crashed into a metal platform.
The hustle was admirable but highly questionable because anyone associated with the Warriors would've accepted Curry making a business decision in that situation by simply letting the ball roll out of bounds.
Steph Curry has missed time in the first two rounds of this postseason because of injuries to his ankle and knee. The Warriors can't risk trying to move forward without him against a more-than-capable team from Oklahoma City. But a boo-boo on his elbow was only going to crack up Curry, not hold him back.
"I don't think he even really thought about it, to be honest," Clark told the Vertical. "He had bigger things to focus on – like winning the game. A little thing like that wouldn't really affect him."
With his arm wrapped up after the game, Curry joked that his elbow "looks like it has a tennis ball on top of it." Curry continued to find amusement in an injury that couldn't stop him from lighting up the Thunder yet would've been agonizing had the Warriors gone down two games to none heading to Oklahoma City.
The lopsided outcome of Golden State's first must-win of the season – and Curry's performance in it – cannot be understated for a team that has encountered more adversity in 12 playoff games than during a charmed, 73-win regular season.
Having learned how to overcome two series deficits while becoming a champion last season, Curry was better prepared for how to approach the Thunder.
"He's the MVP for a reason," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, adding that "nothing" about Curry's third quarter, in which he scored 17 of his 28 points, stood out to him.
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