Leandro Quintana HAVING sat out the past two weeks with ankle and knee injuries, all ears, all antennae, all manner of sensing devices were primed and anxious to get some kind of answer to the question: will Stephen Curry be healthy enough to resume his role as the precious point guard of the NBA’s reigning champions, the Golden State Warriors? What was driving the anxiety to frenzied levels was the non-committal stance taken by coach Steve Kerr to the cascade of questions from the media, and the fans themselves, as to the plans to get Curry back on the floor. The standard Kerr reply had been “if he is healthy enough, he’ll play. If he’s not he won’t”. It was a reply that was good enough for as long as the Warriors were winning their playoff games. After all they had a 2-0 lead over the Portland Trailblazers. But then last Saturday happened. While the Warriors may have been ‘competitive’ they lost game 3 in Portland on May 7. The angst  level of Warrior fans all over was rising dramatically. And finally Monday morning came, game 4 was set for that evening in Portland and yes Mr. Curry would be “available” and coach Kerr would decide at what point in the game he’ll send him in. And the decision did come in a hurry. In the first 6 minutes of game 4 the Trailblazers, playing inspired ball, rung up a 21-6 lead. Curry was summoned off the bench by Kerr and as he peeled off his warm ups his teammates, the ones in the game and the rest on the bench all flashed smiles. “He’s back!”, they all seemed to say. And yes, this may be a melodramatic way putting it, but the moment Curry stepped on the floor, it was like the Red Sea parting. The whole court seemed to have opened up and the Warriors were floating around like goldfish in an aquarium joyfully gobbling up morsels wafting in the water. Portland’s 16 point lead had been whittled down. But the game was not there for the taking. The Trailblazers let by Damien Lillard continued their great play and were raining 3 pointers throughout the game. Curry missed his first 9 shots. He was being double teamed most of the night so he used his passing skills to get the other Warriors great shots. He even went in among the trees to grab an offensive rebound and scored a 2 pointer. The battle royale ended up a tie and an extra 5 minutes of overtime was added. And this is where history and legend converge. Stephen Curry sank in 17 points in overtime and by himself outscored the entire Portland team. TNT broadcaster Marv Alpert announced that this was the first time in the history of the NBA that one player scored 17 points in an overtime period. From the 4th quarter on thru overtime Curry scored 27 points. He was the game’s high scorer with 40. As the  overtime onslaught was taking place one of the cameras caught Trailblazers owner Paul Allen watching from courtside with a look that was half puzzled and half in awe. Golden State’s 6 feet 3 inch point guard was slicing and dicing his team to pieces much like a starving, sword wielding samurai warrior let loose in a sushi feast. The Trailblazer fans, in apparent shock, quieted down and dutifully left the arena with perhaps very little hope left in their season. The Warriors were now leading 3 game to 1 and the 4th game was to be played in their  Oakland, California home court. The post game interview room was packed and a smiling Steve Kerr told the reporters that Curry was definitely play in game 4. All the other questions focused on the overtime display they had just witnessed. They were not the only ones in awe. Back at the TNT studios in Atlanta. Georgia the “Inside the NBA” crew lead by Ernie Johnson and included the usually rowdy and argumentative crew of Shaquille O’Neill, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley were united in their appreciation of the moment. Barkley, never one to hold back an opinion, said that in his estimation Curry was a notch above Lebron James as the best player in the NBA. Neither Smith nor O’Neill disagreed. In fact the crew began ranking Curry with the all time greats: Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kobe. “Those greats never had a 17 point overtime production.” Smith added. Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, co-hosts of the 2 hour daily sports talk show that starts at 7 a.m. , had a very unique segment this  morning. They seemed to have laid down their usually sharp rhetorical weapons and gladly agreed that what they saw the night before was anything short of spectacular. And perhaps the Monday night game in Portland, his first game in 2 weeks served as a backdrop, no, a reminder really, that Stephen Curry, albeit unwittingly, wanted to announce to the world that he very well deserved this year’s MVP award in addition to last year’s. And oh, yes. He was voted in unanimously, the first time this has ever happened in the NBA. Not Jordan, not Magic, not Bird. Stephen Curry, for now, stands alone.