Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (Getty Images/AFP)
LOS ANGELES – Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is poised to supplant Ray Allen as the NBA’s all-time three-point king thanks to the remarkable shooting range that has revolutionized the league in his 13-year tenure.
The three-time NBA champion and two-time Most Valuable Player needs 10 three-pointers to surpass Allen’s career record of 2,973.
Though it’s not quite clear when he’ll get there, Golden State’s Saturday clash against the 76ers in Philadelphia or a Monday matchup with the Pacers in Indiana are certainly possibilities, with a Tuesday game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden to follow.
Curry himself prefers to focus on the process that has made him a shooting phenomenon, and let the numbers take care of themselves.
“I obviously know I’m closing in, but I try not to let it creep into how you play,” he said this week. “You just enjoy the journey to get there. It does mean a lot to me.”
Allen concluded his 18-season NBA career in 2014, building his three-point record through 1,300 career games.
Curry, 33, has played just 786 games in his career, evolving into a dazzling shooter from all over the floor while maintaining an astonishing level of efficiency.
His prowess has made the three-pointer — once derided by old-school San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich as a “circus shot” — mainstream.
“The game has changed a ton. Quite frankly, he’s the reason why,” Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “He’s one of the most influential players to ever play the game, the way he’s changed the way everybody kind of plays the game.”
Curry’s abilities are such that the record watch was on when the Warriors faced the Trail Blazers on Wednesday, with Curry needing a single-game record of 15 to tie Allen’s mark.
Plenty of pundits thought it could be done. Curry himself held the single-game record of 13 before teammate Klay Thompson broke it with 14 three-pointers against the Chicago Bulls in 2018.
Instead Curry had six three-pointers: “nothing for him,” as Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“I don’t think I ever did that in my entire career one time,” added Kerr, who had a 45.4% three-point success rate as a player, still the best in NBA history.
Now 10 three-pointers in a game to break Allen’s record seems eminently doable — Curry has made 11 three-pointers 10 times in his career.
While the impending record hovers over every Warriors game, the team remain focused on their pursuit of another title and their race with the Phoenix Suns for top spot in the Western Conference.
“It’s not really something we’ve talked about yet but when it gets to that game where it happens, I think it’s going to be a special game, something we talk about,” teammate Kevon Looney said.
Should Curry break the record in Philadelphia, it would come against a Sixers team featuring his younger brother Seth Curry.
“Sort of a fitting, I guess, achievement, if that were to happen,” Kerr said, “I don’t know if Seth would look at it that way.”