NBA-Warriors' Curry wins NBA's Most Valuable Player award

[May 05, 2015]  (Reuters) - Sharpshooting guard Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, who set a single-season record for three-pointers made, won the NBA Most Valuable Player award for the 2014-15 campaign, the league said on Monday.

Curry led the National Basketball Association's top regular season team in scoring, assists and steals, becoming the second Warriors player to take the honor, joining Wilt Chamberlain, who won it in 1959-60 when the franchise played in Philadelphia.

The 6-foot-3 Curry captured 100 of 130 first-place votes, from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the fan vote on NBA.com.

Curry, whose Golden State team posted a league-best 67-15 mark in winning the Pacific Division, triumphed over a group of worthy candidates.

Rounding out the top five in the voting were the Houston Rockets’ James Harden, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis.

Curry averaged 23.8 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.7 assists (sixth), a career-high 2.04 steals (fourth) and 4.3 rebounds a game.

The 27-year-old guard made 286 three-pointers, breaking his own NBA record of 272 set in 2012-13, sinking 44.3 percent from long range while shooting 48.7 percent overall from the field.

Curry also led the NBA in free throw percentage (91.4), converting a career-high 52 consecutive free throws from March 9 to April 4.

A strong defender as well, Curry registered the highest plus/minus for any NBA player this season.

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.