Steph Curry has admission about his 'night night' move against Mavericks

Curry made a three-pointer late in the Warriors' 120-117 win over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night that gave his team a four-point lead. However, there were still 26.4 seconds left in the game as he celebrated, symbolically putting the Mavs to sleep. They weren't exhausted yet.

Quentin Grimes hit a step-back three-pointer five seconds later, and suddenly the Warriors led by a single point. The Mavericks took eight seconds to foul during the Warriors' next possession and Curry made a pair of free throws, but the game wasn't decided until Luka Doncic missed a potential game-tying three with five seconds left.

After the game, Curry acknowledged that in the emotions of the moment, facing his 13-year teammate Klay Thompson, he may have pulled out the "night night" move "prematurely."

"It was a little premature, but thankfully I'm still undefeated on the 'night night,'" Curry told reporters, adding, "I almost pulled a Si Woo Kim."

Kim is the golfer who used Curry's signature celebration after sinking a miraculous chip shot on the 16th hole during September's President's Cup.

Two holes later, Kim missed a putt on the 18th hole that lost the match, and the President's Cup, to the United States.

Curry, who is a huge golf fan, might have been using that as extra motivation to sink both his free throws in the game's final seconds. Of course, for Curry, the NBA's career leader with a free-throw percentage of 91 percent, free throws are the equivalent of a tap-in putt.

It's not the first time he's broken out the celebration with the game somewhat in doubt. During Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals, there was more than three minutes left in the clinching game when Curry gave the Boston Celtics a "night night," though Golden State did lead by 15 points.

The other danger with signature celebrations is that your opponent can do it back to you. Thompson did that earlier in the game, breaking out Curry's "shimmy" dance move after hitting a back-to-back threes in the second quarter.

But Thompson still didn't enjoy being on the losing end of a "night night."

"I know I've been on the other end," Thompson told reporters after the game. "And it sucks."