17 years ago today: Stephen Curry’s NBA debut brings 14 points, 4 steals and zero made 3s in a 108-107 loss to Houston

Seventeen years ago today, on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, a slight 21-year-old rookie from Davidson started at point guard for the Golden State Warriors in their home opener at Oracle Arena. Stephen Curry finished his first NBA game with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 7 assists and 4 steals, and the Warriors lost 108-107 to the Houston Rockets.

The detail that ages best is the one nobody cared about that night. The player who would make more 3-pointers than anyone in history took exactly one in his debut, on the first possession of his career, and missed it. He did not make an NBA three until two nights later in Phoenix.

"In his first NBA season from Davidson, number 30, Stephen Curry!"

On this date in 2009, @StephenCurry30 made his Warriors debut 🙌 pic.twitter.com/k62okIp3mc
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 28, 2020

A steal, a miss and a fast start

Coach Don Nelson had decided only the week before to start the seventh overall pick, and Curry wasted no time. He stole the ball on Houston’s first possession, then fired a 3 at the other end that did not go in. Within the first seven and a half minutes he already had three steals and three assists.

The shots came more slowly. Curry made only one of his six attempts in the first half and had a layup blocked late in the second quarter, but Golden State still led 62-52 at halftime behind Monta Ellis. Then Luis Scola scored 15 of his 21 points in the third quarter, the Rockets won the period 35-19, and the Warriors spent the fourth quarter chasing.

Curry kept them close. His 17-foot jumper with 6:31 left cut Houston’s lead to 99-95, and with 1:55 to play and the Warriors down seven, he isolated on the left side and hit a pull-up on the move to make it a five-point game. Anthony Morrow’s would-be tying 3 missed in the final seconds, and Curry’s putback came at the buzzer, a point short.

The box score at Oracle

Final: Houston Rockets 108, Golden State Warriors 107, in front of 19,596 fans in Oakland. It was the season opener for Golden State and the second game in two nights for Houston.
By quarter: Golden State 28-34-19-26; Houston 26-26-35-21.
Stephen Curry: 14 points (7-12 FG, 0-1 3P, no free throws), 7 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers in 35:39. He was a plus-7, tied with Kelenna Azubuike for the best rating on the team.
Warriors: Monta Ellis scored 26, Stephen Jackson 17 and Azubuike 13 off the bench. Corey Maggette went 3-of-14.
Rockets: Trevor Ariza scored 25, Scola had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Aaron Brooks added 18 points and 12 assists. Houston played without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

What the Rockets saw

The winners were the ones raving afterward. “Honestly, I knew he would be good but I didn’t know he’d be that good,” Ariza said. “He showed a lot of poise.”

“He’s pretty confident, which is a good thing,” Scola said. “He’s definitely pretty quick, has quick hands on defense.”

Shane Battier, who spent the night chasing him, put it best. “He has the poise of, not a seasoned veteran, but you couldn’t tell that was his first NBA game,” Battier said. “A lot of times, looking at a rookie, you’re like, ‘Wow, this kid is just trying to figure out where to park his car.’ But he looked composed, he knows the game, he has it.”

Curry spent much of the night looking to the bench for play calls. Nelson, he explained afterward, would prepare three or four sets for each opponent and shout which one he wanted. “By midseason, hopefully I’ll see what he sees,” Curry said, “and I can make those calls myself.”

A record rookie year

The shooting arrived quickly after that. Curry went 2-of-3 from deep in a 123-101 loss at Phoenix on October 30, and by April he had made 166 3-pointers, a rookie record at the time, passing the 159 Rudy Fernández made for Portland a season earlier. He shot 43.7% from 3 and 88.5% from the line.

Season line: 80 games, 77 starts, 17.5 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 36.2 minutes.
First triple-double: 36 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in a 132-102 win over the Clippers on February 10, 2010.
Finale: 42 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in a 122-116 win at Portland on April 14, 2010, his first 40-point game.
Rookie of the Year: runner-up to Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans, 491 voting points to 391, with 43 first-place votes to Evans’ 67. Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings was third.
The team: Golden State went 26-56, scored the second-most points per game in the league and allowed the most.

The record has fallen several times since, to Damian Lillard (185), Donovan Mitchell (187), Keegan Murray (206) and, last season, Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel (273). But no one else on that list went on to do what Curry did with the shot.

Seventh pick, 17 years later

Six players went ahead of Curry in the 2009 draft: Blake Griffin, Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, Evans, and two point guards to Minnesota at 5 and 6, Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn. The Warriors took him at No. 7 and have never had to replace him.

Through last season, all 17 of his seasons have been with Golden State: 1,069 regular-season games, 26,528 points and 4,248 3-pointers, the most in NBA history. He has won four championships and two MVP awards and been named All-NBA 11 times. At 37, he still averaged 26.6 points last season and made another All-Star team.

Now 38 and in his 18th season, Curry took 10,073 regular-season 3-pointers through last season. The first of them came on the opening possession of a one-point loss to Houston 17 years ago tonight, and it missed.