Stephen Curry is someone you don’t want to be playing pissed off. Kevin Porter Jr. learned that the hard way last night when he jawed at Curry a little after a dead ball. The Warriors star proceeded to drop 21 points in the 4th quarter alone en-route to a 40-point performance and a win against the young Rockets squad. Safe to say, Warriors fans owe KPJ a thank-you for helping Steph find the rhythm again.

Seeing Steph go ballistic last night was a moment of nostalgia. There’s been a number of times where someone’s irked him just a little too much - and he’s made ‘em pay for it. From regular season match-ups with little consequence on the standings, all the way to the NBA Finals, there are a few moments which stand out in the point guard’s career.

While there are plenty to go through, these are some of the most iconic ones. Note that these are in no particular order. Anyway, let’s get started:

1) Warriors-Celtics, March 2017
Jaylen Brown came into the league with high expectations. As a #3 overall pick, people knew he was good, and he himself knew it too. He made sure that Steph Curry knew it in a late-season matchup against the Warriors, talking some trash to him. Steph, of course, got him back by pump-faking him into half-court before draining a buzzer-beater triple at the end of the third. And then, Steph capped off Brown’s “welcome to the NBA” moment by letting him hear about it:

2) Warriors-Clippers, December 2018
Patrick Beverley is probably best-known for his trash talk. Despite his scrappy defense and tough, team-oriented attitude, it’s always his ability to get under an opponent’s skin that makes him stand out. This was certainly the case when the Warriors and Clippers were conference rivals, meeting each other later in this same season in the playoffs. Beverley learned the hard way, however, that Steph wasn’t going to be taking his post-play antics, torching the Clippers down the stretch after Bev tried to get in his face:

3) Warriors-Clippers, November 2021
The Clippers have a tendency to be on the wrong end of Steph Curry’s better games. Even when one of their own guys doesn’t do anything to tick him off, somebody else will. In this instance, it was the referees. After a missed foul call, Steph blew up at the baseline ref, who gave him a technical. The Clips paid for it, as Curry went on an absolute tear to turn it into a blow-out, and he made an iconic career moment with it by T’ing the ref up himself:

4) Warriors-Cavaliers, 2018 Finals
Players, refs, coaches, fans, they can all catch heat. Even bench cheerleaders do too. With the Cavs and Warriors battling it out in Game 2 of the 2018 Finals after JR Smith blew Game 1 by not knowing the score at the end of regulation. As the third quarter buzzer expired, Steph Curry missed a lob-shot in front of the Cleveland bench, and Kendrick Perkins - in a suit, it should be noted, and not a uniform - got into it with him. Steph got right back in his face, talking his talk right in front of the Cavs bench. It didn’t end well for the opposing team, as Steph proceeded to go 5-for-5 from three in the 4th quarter to close them out:

(Photo credit: ESPN)