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Steph Curry continues to torment Victor Wembanyama
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the basketball against San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Warriors' Steph Curry continues to torment Spurs' Victor Wembanyama

By Sean Keane  |  Last updated Nov 15, 2025 9:36 AM ET

Steph Curry drained a three-pointer over Victor Wembanyama to help Team USA at the 2024 Olympics. One year later, he delivered a pair of epic scoring games to beat Wemby twice in three days.

Curry made two free throws with 6.4 seconds left to give the Golden State Warriors a 109-108 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in an NBA Cup matchup on Friday. He scored 49 points, two days after he put up 46 in a 125-120 win, both on Wembanyama's home floor.

Steph Curry vs. Victor Wembanyama is a great new rivalry

Friday marked only the third time since the Olympics that Curry and Wembanyama faced each other, and they delivered another epic battle. The two serve as great foils for one another. Curry, at 6-foot-3 and elusive, can sink shots from anywhere on the court, including a 28-footer he hit off a second-quarter jump ball.

Wembanyama is at least 7-foot-4 and can block shots from anywhere on the court, including a block on Jimmy Butler in the final minute where Butler appeared to have an open, go-ahead layup before Wemby swatted it.

Curry is small and American. Wembanyama is tall and French. Curry is an unstoppable offensive force, while Wembanyama is considered the best defensive player in decades. It's a compelling matchup that highlights the strengths of both. Wemby had a triple-double on Wednesday in the loss, while Curry scored 95 points across the Warriors' two wins. On Friday, Wemby was +6 in 38 minutes, and Curry was +9 in 36.

Steph Curry is a uniquely bad matchup for Wembanyama

Wembanyama makes shooters extremely uncomfortable, but Curry needs less space to get off a shot than perhaps any other player in NBA history. Not only is Curry adept at shooting in tiny windows — he shot 9-for-17 from three-point range Friday — the Warriors thrive on getting a big man on Curry on switches.

That doesn't just let Curry work against a bigger player. It pulls that center out of the paint, and even a center with the length of Wemby can't block a layup from the three-point arc.

However, Curry's ability to shoot from unpredictable angles from close range can make even the NBA's best shot-blocker unable to stop him from attacking the paint.

It still took back-to-back 40-point efforts from Curry for the Warriors to eke out two road victories over the Spurs. They also needed Gary Payton II, a 33.3 percent three-point shooter for his career, to knock down two big threes in the last five minutes to put them in position to win at the end.

Payton passed to Brandin Podziemski for another big three down the stretch, and forced a miss on De'Aaron Fox's attempted game-winner at the buzzer. In the last two minutes, Fox missed four shots, turned the ball over and fouled Curry in the final seconds.

Curry vs. Wembanyama is an epic matchup. On Friday, Curry got the better of Wemby, and his supporting cast came through to get the Warriors a win.

Sean Keane
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Sean Keane is a sportswriter and a comedian based in Oakland, California, with experience covering the NBA, MLB, NFL and Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, The Big 3. He’s written for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” ESPN the Magazine, and Audible. com

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