- Stephen Curry breaks records, Sets NBA Single-Season 3-Point Record.
Curry returned from a frightening sprained left ankle in the third quarter to put up 31 points after injury and 46 overall as Golden State finished off a dominant road trip with a 121-118 victory over Oklahoma City. Curry, who suffered from numerous ankle injuries early in his career, hit a game-winning three-pointer in overtime from 38 feet away.
Stephen Curry buried the Oklahoma City Thunder 121–118 in overtime on Saturday night with a 38-foot three in the game’s final second.
Curry jogged down the floor and pulled up from deep to sink his 12th three-pointer of the game, tying an NBA record. During overtime, he also broke his own NBA single-season record for threes in a season with his 287th triple.
Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson told ESPN’s Mike & Mike on Thursday that Curry’s success is largely due to today’s style of play, which isn’t as physical as back in the day. Another Hall of Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, concurs.
On top of that, retired stars Stephen Jackson (2006-07 Warriors) andCedric Ceballos (1993-94 Suns) both have said their former teams could have beaten this Warriors team, which holds the best record in NBA history through 57 games (52-5) and remains one game ahead of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ pace in their record 72-10 season.
“It’s starting to get a little annoying just because it’s kind of unwarranted from across the board,” Curry said on the “Warriors Plus/Minus” podcast by the Bay Area News Group on Friday. “We have a very competent group, and we have fun when we’re out there on the floor, and it shows, obviously.
“We enjoy what we do. But for the most part, you don’t hear us talking about, you know, comparing ourselves to other great teams and ‘We could beat this team, we’re better than this team.’ We’re living in the moment.”
Robertson got the ball rolling during his appearance on Mike & Mike by criticizing today’s coaches and players for not being physical enough.
“I just don’t think coaches today in basketball understand the game of basketball,” Robertson said. “They don’t know anything about defenses. They don’t know what people are doing on the court. [Curry] has shot well because of what’s going on in basketball today.
“… When I played years ago, if you shot a shot outside and hit it, the next time I’m going to be up on top of you. I’m going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. But now they don’t do that. These coaches do not understand the game of basketball, as far as I’m concerned.”
Curry has made 276 3-pointers this season — on 599 attempts (46.1 percent) — and is 10 shy of the record he set last season. And he has made a 3 in 128 straight games — also an NBA record — heading into Saturday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN3).
“Steph Curry, unbelievable shooter, but [Kevin Johnson] was a point guard’s nightmare because he was so strong and he loved going to the basket,” Ceballos told Fox Sports Radio, explaining why he believed his Suns team — which included Charles Barkley, Dan Majerle, Danny Ainge and Tom Chambers — could beat these Warriors in a playoff series.
“That’s one thing these teams don’t do: they do not expose Steph and the way he plays defense. I don’t think we would have a problem with this Golden State team.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has also had enough of the talk comparing yesteryear to today and said he thinks Curry is unguardable.
“A player from any era would be unable to guard Steph Curry. It doesn’t matter who you’re talking about. No one could guard Steph Curry,” Kerr said. “He’s too quick, too skilled, too good. You can make all sorts of other arguments. In the ’90s, there were all type of dominant big men. There aren’t many these days, that’s true. The game was different then. … There’s more ball movement, there’s more liked-sized players on the court. So things change, but I just can’t see how anybody would think that Steph would have been guardable 30 years ago, 20 years ago, whatever.”
