Stephen Curry shuts door on title season, out to win 68 games or more

OAKLAND, Calif. – Stephen Curry sat in front of his locker admiring his shiny, heavy, diamond-encrusted NBA championship ring before saying quietly to himself that the party was now over.

Time will tell how the reigning NBA champions handle their new bull's-eye, the lack of respect, having to adapt to injuries that already include Andrew Bogut and even their coach, and distractions that come with season-long free-agency questions for two players. One question the Golden State Warriors did get answered, though, was whether the NBA's reigning Most Valuable Player was ready as Curry scored 40 points in a season-opening 111-95 blowout victory of the injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night.

"This is the last straw of the whole championship celebration," Curry told Yahoo Sports. "We celebrated for three months, as we should. But you can't get distracted by what happened last year. I might peek at [the ring] every once in a while, but it's not like it's going to go away.

"I'm going to put it in the safe and just worry about what's ahead. When we are 10 games into the season nobody cares about it. You can't bring the [ring] out onto the floor. It's not going to intimidate anybody. You got to go out and play."

Curry got the loudest ovation along with chants of "MVP… MVP…" when he accepted his ring from NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Curry and teammates Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green spent nearly a month on an e-mail chain with jewelry store Jason of Beverly Hills to design the ring, filled with unique accents, before coming to a conclusion on Aug. 3. Representing the players during Tuesday's ceremony, Curry took the microphone and thanked the fans, gave a shot out to former Warriors teammates David Lee, Justin Holiday and Ognjen Kuzmic who weren't in attendance and gathered his current teammates, coaches and ownership together as the banner was revealed from the sold-out Oracle Arena rafters.

"[The rings] were so much better in person," Curry said. "We saw all the mock-ups of it and the designs. But that's a feeling and a moment that we will never forget."

After the Warriors players with rings danced to Drake & Future's song "Big Rings," they still had to play Anthony Davis and the Pelicans. Curry described the atmosphere on this night to "the hoopla" of the 2015 NBA Finals opener. Twenty-five seconds into Tuesday's game, Green scored the game's first points on a 3-pointer. Green's big personality instantly kicked in as he smiled widely while Curry and his other teammates chuckled and loosened up from that point on.

"That was a big shot," Curry said. "Obviously, the first one you want to see go in, and it boosted everybody's confidence. You knew he was going to have a fun reaction to it. I started laughing, smiling. Everyone just relaxed and settled into the game."

From that point on, it was Curry's show.

Curry nailed 14 of 25 shots, five 3-pointers and all seven free throws while dishing seven assists. His 40 points, 24 in the opening period, came in 28 minutes of play through three quarters before he went scoreless in nearly seven fourth-quarter minutes. It was the most points by a reigning NBA MVP since the 1963-64 season opener when Milwaukee Bucks center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 41 points on Oct. 13, 1972 versus the Phoenix Suns. Curry also scored the most points from a Warriors player in a season opener since Monta Ellis had 46 on Oct 27, 2010 versus the Houston Rockets.

Afterward, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, sidelined while recovering from complications following two back surgeries, offered one word to describe what he witnessed.

"Phenomenal," Kerr told Yahoo Sports with a smile.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, an assistant coach with the Warriors last season, said: "Some of those shots Steph made, it doesn't matter who was out there."

Golden State's 67 wins last season were the third-most victories in NBA history. Could today's Warriors be even better now?

"It's our mission," Curry said. "We have to capitalize on the experience we gained and the chemistry we've been able to establish. Does that mean 67 wins or 68 wins or 70 wins? I don't know. We have to be a better team than we were last year if we are going to win another championship. And that's the goal."

To be fair to the talented young Pelicans on this night, they were without six players, including five notables in Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Omer Asik, Norris Cole and Quincy Pondexter; it was Gentry's first game coaching the club; and Davis, who finished with 18 points, had one of the most forgettable offensive nights of an otherwise fantastic young career, missing 16 field goals and five free throws.

It was a decent first test for Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton, who is filling in for Kerr. The ailing coach plans to make the Warriors' upcoming two-game road trip, but one source said it could be several more weeks before he returns to the bench. Curry has faith in Walton, but the upcoming slate will surely test the novice and young coach. Other than a road test against battered New Orleans, the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and rival Los Angeles Clippers are the Western Conference powers up next and are capable of beating the Warriors.

"I heard he was nervous, which is just like when he was a player," Curry said about Walton. "You might get butterflies before the game. As soon as the game starts your preparation kicks in. He was pretty calm. Made some good calls. He is obviously going to be great for us in coach Kerr's absence."

With banner night over, the spotlight will also turn to starting forward Harrison Barnes and center Festus Ezeli, potential restricted free agents who are not expected to get contract extensions prior to the season's end. Barnes struggled, missing nine of 12 shots and four 3-pointers. Ezeli was impressive with 13 points and four rebounds as Bogut dealt left early to have three stitches on a laceration above his right eye.

"I'm not worried about it," Curry told Yahoo Sports about Harrison and Ezeli. "They are grown men and they're going to make decisions that are right for them. I was in the same situation. … Just make the right decision.

"Harrison is betting on himself. You love that he is going to come out being aggressive to prove a point. Festus, I don't know what's going to happen, but it's probably the same situation. He has a edge that you got to like."

After the season-opening triumph, Curry put on a new NBA championship hat and enjoyed showing off his ring to the media. After a couple of minutes, the All-Star took off the hat, put away the ring and turned his focus to the unknown in the Warriors' tough quest to repeat.

"You want to enjoy the ceremony, the ring and the banner. Then you obviously got to turn the page on a new season, a new journey," Curry said.

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