NEW ORLEANS — Stephen Curry made one of the most important shots of his career Thursday night and barely got to see it go in.

After the Warriors trimmed a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to three points, Curry missed a wing three-pointer with 5.9 seconds left. But Marreese Speights chased down the offensive rebound and spotted Curry running away from Quincy Pondexter and relocating in the corner.

Curry didn’t miss two in a row. Even with Pondexter and Anthony Davis contesting his shot and knocking him over during the follow-through, Curry drilled the game-tying three-pointer with 2.8 seconds left.

“Once I got it off, I was just bracing for impact,” Curry said. “I got hit pretty hard and thought I was going to get the foul. I’ve actually seen the play (on video), and it was pretty obvious. Once I landed and didn’t get hurt, I looked up and saw the ball go in. … It was a good feeling.”

Billion Dollar Man? Curry is the best shooter in the NBA and one of the most popular — getting the most All-Star votes in the league and selling the second most jerseys. He could be worth $1 billion to athletic apparel maker Under Armour Inc., according to chief executive Kevin Plank.

During a call with investors following the company’s first-quarter earnings report this week, Plank said Under Armour’s goal is to build a $1 billion basketball brand centered on Curry.

“From the Curry One (basketball shoe) to the Curry Two, we’ve been modifying and chasing that a little bit where we had pretty limited expectations of what we really wanted to do with that product to begin with,” Plank said. “It’s going to help elevate what was about a $100 million basketball business, and you know our goal is building a billion-dollar basketball brand.”

Under Armour said footwear revenue in the first quarter climbed 41 percent over a year ago to $161 million. It attributed the strong growth to the introduction of the Curry One signature shoe, along with new offerings of the SpeedForm running shoe.

Briefly: Warriors reserve forward David Lee sat out his fourth consecutive game with a sore lower back, but he’s progressing and is expected to play three-on-three after Friday’s practice. … Warriors rookie James Michael McAdoo stayed in the Bay Area with flu-like symptoms. The Warriors hoped McAdoo could join the team in New Orleans before Game 3, but he has a fever and is expected to stay home through the weekend. … One of the loudest cheers of the night came in the second quarter, when New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was shown on the video board wearing a red “Play On NOLA” T-shirt.

Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.