The endless mind games between siblings Seth Curry and Stephen Curry were on full display during the Golden State Warriors' Game 2 win at Oracle Arena. The Portland Trail Blazers guard knocked down a clutch 3-pointer right in front of his brother and picked his pocket from behind, but his greatest attempt to get in the two-time MVP's head was to trash talk him before he took a critical three free throws.
Steph was fouled by Damian Lillard on a 3-point attempt with only 2:01 left in regulation, sending the Warriors sharpshooter to the foul line for three attempts. As he stepped to the line to take the free throws, Seth whispered to him after the first make, “That's 70 in a row,” according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne:
Stephen stopped in the middle of his routine and looked over at his brother, who rose a smile, both knowing what the other was up to:
“I was trying to get in his head and jinx him,” said Seth after a 114-111 loss in Game 2. “He looked over at me and said, ‘OK, now it's gonna be 72.' And then he made them both.”
The feat Seth referred to was Steph's streak of free throws made in clutch playoff situations. Before nailing all three free throws, Steph had made 76 straight shots from the stripe in fourth quarter and overtime periods of a playoff game, with his last miss coming back in Game 6 of the 2015 NBA Finals.
Needless to say, Seth's gambit was a far cry from getting the desired result. Steph knocked down all of his free throws in Game 2 and is shooting a blistering 95.1% of his shots from the stripe this postseason.