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Warriors' Cook: Curry empowered me to shoot my way to 28-point game

Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Leave it to Stephen Curry to find ways to help his team even when he's not on the floor.

The Golden State Warriors point guard has been sidelined with an ankle injury, but that didn't stop him from sending an uplifting message to Quinn Cook, the two-way player talked with filling in for him.

Cook, 24, was shooting 3-of-8 heading into halftime Saturday in Phoenix with his severely shorthanded team trailing 60-52 to the lowly Suns. While he was in the locker room, he received a text message from Curry that read: "I don't care if you go 0-of-25. That 26th shot, you better not hesitate."

"To hear that from a guy like that, and everybody on the team, it does a lot for your confidence," Cook said Wednesday.

He responded well to the two-time MVP's encouragement and even seemed to channel Curry as he hit all six of his third-quarter shots - half of them 3-pointers. Cook racked up 16 points in the frame as the Warriors outscored Phoenix 29-7 over one particularly dominant stretch.

Cook, who's in his first season with the Warriors, raved about how players and coaches give him the "ultimate confidence" in situations where other teams might have given up on him.

"Those games where I was struggling shooting the ball, Steve (Kerr) and every player on our team ... All of them were telling me to keep shooting," he said. "If you hesitate, they will get mad at me so the fact that they kept that confidence in me is really the reason why I've been able to have some high-scoring games."

He finished with a career-best 28 points in the 124-109 win over the Suns, topping the high of 25 he set the previous night.

As great as Cook has been for Golden State, the team may not need him to start for much longer, as Curry is aiming to return Friday versus the Atlanta Hawks following a two-week layoff.

Fellow All-Stars Draymond Green (abdomen), Klay Thompson (thumb), and Kevin Durant (rib) are expected to remain on the sidelines.

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