It is inevitable at this point.
Stephen Curry — already widely considered the greatest shooter the game has ever seen — needs 10 more 3-pointers to pass Hall of Famer Ray Allen to have the most made 3-pointers in NBA history. The question is not if but when.
Curry takes the floor Saturday night in Philadephia and the NBA world will be watching — he has drained 10 or more 3s in a game 22 times in his career. It’s distinctly possible tonight is the night. In that setting, Curry would set the record in front of his brother, Seth Curry, the starting two-guard for 76ers, as well as his father Dell Curry, who is expected to be in the building. The 76ers have a quality perimeter defender to throw at Curry in Matisse Thybulle, but good defenders don’t always stop Curry. Or even slow him down.
If not, it may not be Monday night in Indiana, the Warriors are considering resting Curry on the front end of a back-to-back that night, reports Marc Stein in his newsletter.
That would set up Curry to pass Allen Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. If Curry couldn’t break the record at home (the Warriors are on a five-game road trip), then in a rocking MSG, one of the NBA’s grandest stages, seems fitting. Curry was drafted No. 7 in the 2007 NBA Draft, one spot in front of the Knicks selection, and the fan base there had wanted Curry (they got Jordan Hill). Curry has put on a show in MSG before.
Ray Allen will try to be there for the moment, he’s talked to Curry about navigating all of it, he told Dan Patrick this week.
“I spoke with the people at the Warriors and I actually spoke with Steph a little bit, trying to help him navigate this whole process,” Allen said on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “It’s an exciting time for him and I tried to give him what I was dealing with, you know, going into the game and everything that led up to it.
“And I was fortunate because I broke the record in Boston against the [Los Angeles] Lakers with Reggie in the building, so it’s only appropriate that I find my way there. I don’t know where it’s going to be so I got to kind of watch this thing. I don’t know if you know, but I’m coaching myself, Gulliver Prep here in Miami and we have games as well. So it’s a tricky situation for me trying to navigate what it is that happens with them.”
Curry is going to pass Allen in 500 fewer games. Part of that is the trend of the NBA to take more threes than when Allen played (especially early in his career).
Part of that is Curry is the best shooter in NBA history.
