Stephen Curry ejected, hits fan with mouthpiece in Game 6 meltdown
A frustrating and disappointing Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals for Stephen Curry ended in a stunning bit of personal history: the first ejection for the back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player’s professional career.
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Steph Curry fouls out, throws his mouth piece hitting a fan- gets a tech, and ejected. pic.twitter.com/0v1Ospbuwj
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) June 17, 2016
With just under 4 1/2 minutes left, Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson rebounded a missed free throw by Warriors guard Klay Thompson, and passed the ball off to LeBron James with the Cavaliers holding a 12-point lead. Curry, playing with five fouls, raced in to try to knock the ball loose; he did, but James leapt, regained possession, came down on Curry’s back and went to the ground, resulting in a whistle and Curry’s sixth personal foul, which would disqualify him from the game.
The MVP lost his mind upon realizing he’d been whistled, ripping his now-signature mouthguard out of his mouth and chucking it toward the sideline in anger … and it hit a fan sitting courtside:
Another look at the foul called on Steph Curry and his ejection for throwing his mouth piece. pic.twitter.com/U7WzYloX9P
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) June 17, 2016
After calming down, Curry sought out the fan, apologized and gave him a high-five before heading off the floor and back into the locker room. He finished with 30 points on 8-for-20 shooting, including a 6-for-13 mark from the 3-point line, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and four turnovers in 35 minutes. He often acted as the Warriors’ lone source of offense but made poor gambles defensively, battled foul trouble throughout and was ultimately outshined by LeBron, who dominated to the tune of 41 points for the second straight game, 11 assists, eight rebounds, four steals, three blocks and just one turnover in 42 1/2 minutes, leading the Cavaliers to a 115-101 win that evened the Finals up at three games apiece, forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 back at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Sunday.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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