How do Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors keep doing this?!

IT’S GAME 5 between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors, the series tied, and Stephen Curry is in the midst of creating the kind of dagger moment that has defined his career.

There are just over 30 seconds left in regulation, with the Warriors trying to expand a 119-114 lead to take control of a game they desperately need to win. Curry takes a short pass from Warriors forward Draymond Green and starts dribbling as if he’s playing keep-away on the playground. Kings big man Domantas Sabonis chases him feebly, as Curry dribbles with his left hand down the paint. Former teammate and Kings swingman Harrison Barnes joins the action.

Curry dribbles into the paint and shakes Barnes, who jumps at a left-handed layup attempt that never materializes. As the game clock hits 24, Curry spins back right and turns to the basket, charging through a suddenly open lane to the rim to put up a running floater. Barnes, who has untangled himself from the dribbling exhibition, lunges for the ball, but misses and fouls Curry in the process.

The ball bounces around the rim, then … drops. The Warriors’ reserves explode in celebration with veteran swingman Andre Iguodala skipping from one end of Golden State’s bench to the other. Klay Thompson, standing about 10 feet away on the floor, jumps and raises his arms in the air. Curry lets out a ferocious yell and then flexes his arms by his side and screams as he walks down the floor. The standing Golden 1 Center crowd falls into a stunned silence.

Curry has just closed down another game, dashing a young team’s dreams in the process.

After all the absurd plays and range-expanding shots that have defined his 14-year-NBA journey, Curry has come to a conclusion: The type of confidence required to even attempt these kinds of shots must come from within. It is a mindset, he says, that he’s had throughout his career, one ESPN discussed with him on several occasions.