That’s Stephen, Michael and Oscar

San Francisco Chronicle: Curry, Jordan and Robertson are the only three rookies in league history to have more than one 30-point, 12-assist game.

The rookie wall?

Don Nelson on Stephen: He “is one of the guys who has gotten better every game, and he’s playing at the best level he has all year.” Last night: a comeback win against the Kings. Next up: his buddy Bron.

Stephen’s best game yet?

Marcus Thompson on his blog:

Curry’s performance, to my eye, was more impressive that Maggette’s because of the way he integrated his shots with finding opportunities for the rest of the team. If Curry is going to play with Ellis, he’s going to need to know when to feed the shooters and when to look for his own shots. He did a really nice job balancing the two in the first half. His second half disappearance until the final stretch is probably equal parts Denver defense and Warriors’ lack of sharing the ball. But even without touches for nearly 20 minutes, Curry came up big in the clutch. There are still some lazy passes and blown defensive assignments that translate into lost opportunities, turnovers and easy points, but he’s progressing nicely as a rookie. He’s got a steady hand when it counts, and that matters more than any box score can convey.

Monta: “If it wasn’t for Curry hitting the shots he hit and playing the way he played, we probably wouldn’t have had a chance to win tonight. He was awesome at both ends.” FanHouse: Stephen Curry played like he was back at Davidson.

Nellie on Stephen

After the Portland loss the other night: “He’s gotta toughen up.” Chronicle. And now on DavidsonNews.net: CurryNet.

No. 2 NBA rookie so far

Thorpe on Stephen: “If I were ranking the rookies based on 'game smarts’ he’d likely be my No. 1 guy right now.”

Wow

Rusty Simmons: Oklahoma City marked the 11th consecutive road venue that included at least one fan wearing a replica of Curry’s No. 30 Davidson jersey.

Stephen in Oakland

Stats: 13, 3 and 3 in 46 minutes in another loss. Thompson on Twitter: Warriors falling apart. Curry back-to-back turnovers. Stephen after the game: “In close games down the stretch, you’ve really got to buckle down and focus on what you’re doing. You’ve got to be willing to make plays, and I didn’t come through.”

Room to operate

Stephen: “Those guys need the ball a lot to be efficient offensively. It was a tough line to walk. But it’s a beneficial thing for me to put up shots and keep attacking, and I’ve got to be willing to do that.” Tuesday night at Dallas.

... and out in Oakland

In a win against the Blazers, Stephen had 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 46 minutes. Rusty Simmons: This was the best Ellis and Curry have ever looked together. They defended well as a tandem, consistently pushed the pace of the game, looked for each other on breaks and even exchanged a couple of low fives.

A big win over an awful team

And for Stephen: 8 points and 5 assists. Says Rusty Simmons of the Chron: The defensive problems are the same as always. The Warriors have no answer for Al Jefferson inside, and Stephen Curry can’t stay in front of speedy point guard Jonny Flynn. Over on Cats.com: The Warriors are in for a really, really long season.

Lessons from Nash

Chron off last night:

When Warriors rookie Stephen Curry was yanked in the closing minute of the first half Friday night, a courtside fan stood up and yelled, “Take some notes, Curry.”

Rest assured he was.

Going up against Steve Nash

Tonight in Phoenix: “It’ll be fun to play against an All-Star caliber point guard who I’ve studied a lot and tried to learn from for the last few years.” Less than a year ago.

Tonight: opener in Oakland

Stephen, sounding like Stephen: “There are so many things you have to learn, so to cut down the learning curve, you have to learn it once and be able to do it over and over again. I’m making mistakes, but I’m learning from them and I’ve been able to move on to the next play and not hang my head.” Look back: The latest chapter, The gift, STEFF-in, On Stephen’s ‘athleticism’, Three things, We’ve seen this before, What he does. Charlotte mag: Staying Stephen, See Stephen Go.

Opening night starter

Don Nelson: “Right now, anybody who plays with Curry looks good, because he sees the floor and finds them.” Merc.

Stephen to start?

Chron:

Mired in a preseason-long shooting slump, Curry broke out a little with his jumper and a lot with everything else in the Warriors’ 126-92 win over New Orleans at Oracle Arena. He had 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 10 assists, six rebounds and six steals.

“I thought the difference in the game was Curry,” coach Don Nelson said. “When we inserted him into the game, we immediately started moving the ball better, pushing the ball better and doing all of the things I’ve been wanting us to do.

“The little guy is good, and it’s going to be hard to keep him out of the lineup.”

The fifth starter has been a question throughout the preseason, but Nelson said “as far as I’m concerned, he won the job tonight.”

Getting a lot of traffic from California

This is why. The Stephen effect.

The Chron’s beat man

Rusty Simmons: “I’m nearly convinced that Stephen Curry is going to be special ...”

About the postcard

Rusty Simmons of the Chron.

Stephen in Vegas

Game 3: not bad. Chron. Freep.

Watching the stories spread

A few thoughts after reading this in the Chronicle this morning:

1. Of all the things that can be said about Stephen, and are said, and presumably will be said, this I think is the absolute key:

From Staying Stephen:

When Stephen got to Davidson, the fall of his freshman year, he was bigger, stronger, faster, and taller than he had been at Charlotte Christian. All of that, though, was not what struck the Davidson coaches the most.

Stephen was able to take the information given to him and correct mistakes almost immediately. It wasn’t that he never made mistakes. He made a lot of them. He just usually didn’t make any of them a second time. McKillop has been coaching for three and a half decades, and he says he has never had a player like that. It was as if Stephen listened to what he was told, painted a picture of the movements in his head, then channeled those movements onto the court, at full speed, the very next play.

McKillop in this morning’s story:

“I was flabbergasted how quickly he took to coaching, how smart he was and how he was able to put coaching into action. He could make something a habit after hearing how we wanted it done one time.”

Somewhere in there is the intangible why and how of what by now is Stephen’s proven pattern of exceeding expectations.

2. Good answer from Dell: “He was drafted higher than me, took a college team further than me and is better than me at golf, so if he felt like he had to live up to something, I’d say he’s done pretty well.”

3. Most of the “Steven” and “Stephon” stuff seems to have gone away, which was overdue, so now I look forward to the day I never have to see or hear Davidson “University” again. Perhaps that’s a pipe dream.

Brings to mind what Jason said at one of those press conferences in Detroit, and I’m paraphrasing here: It’s a college, actually. Davidson College. A lot of people get that wrong.

It was quick, almost inside spoken parentheses, and I don’t think it totally registered with the guy who had asked the question about the “university,” or anyone else in the room, either, but I heard it, and loved it.