The race for the NBA scoring title this season is heating up between Stephen Curry and Bradley Beal going down the final stretch of the regular season. On Saturday, Bradley Beal dropped 50 points for the second time this season to lead his Washington Wizards over the Indiana Pacers in overtime.
Later that night, Stephen Curry needed 22 points to remain the NBA’s scoring leader. He scored 24 points in the first quarter. The two-time MVP went on to score 49 through three quarters in a Golden State Warriors rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Curry’s teammate Kent Bazmore was left in amazement by his feat. So much so, Bazemore threw a massive jab at Beal in praising Curry.
“Forty-nine points in 29 minutes, that’s unreal. We got guys hurting hamstrings to keep up,” Bazemore boasted, per Monte Pool of NBC Sports.
Kent Bazemore was referring to Beal’s latest hamstring injury. Beal suffered a left hamstring strain in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ win Saturday against the Pacers. The injury kept him out of the entire overtime period.
Beal will miss the next two Wizards games — both against the Atlanta Hawks — before he will be re-evaluated on Friday. His status for the remainder of the regular season remains uncertain.
Praising Curry is acceptable. But, Bazermore’s jab will surely draw the ire of Wizards fans.
Meanwhile, the Wizards are more concentrated on securing a spot in the NBA’s play-in tournament. Entering the final week of the season, Washington is currently in ninth place and three games ahead of 11th place Chicago. They’ll have to figure a way to stay afloat in the standings while Beal is absent from the court.
As for the scoring race going in the final week, Curry has a slight lead averaging 31.9 points per game compared to Beal’s 31.4 points per game.
