He only made two three-pointers and only attempted six, but with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter on Thursday night, Stephen Curry pumpfaked the Sacramento Kings’ Trey Lyles, took one dribble left and elevated for the triple. Nothing but the bottom.
“Goooood!!” screamed TNT play-by-play commentator Kevin Harlan in his trademark half-hoarse after the shot fell through. The Warriors took a 72-63 lead with the made basket, on their way to a breezy 130-104 home victory. The club has won six consecutive games, are 9-1 in their last 10, and at 38-28 are a half game up on the Minnesota Timberwolves for the sixth spot in the Western Conference. They have only lost one game since acquiring Jimmy Butler on February 7.
Curry’s 4,000 triples are an astounding number, completely out of the realm of possibility when he came into the NBA in 2009, not just because we did not know what he would become, but because of how the game was played then. Inside out, off ball movement, post play, with three-point shots viewed as a luxury and taken as an as-needed high-percentage shot.
Stephen Curry shifted the game though. Like Michael Jordan made it more of an aerial game, Curry made players want to emulate him.
This season, Curry’s 11.2 attempts from beyond lead the league. The Celtics’ Jayson Tatum averages 10.2, the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards 10.1. Curry shoots 39.8%, Edwards 40.6, and Tatum 35.4. The Celtics average 48.2 downtown heaves per game. Second most? The Bulls, at 42.8.
In Curry’s rookie season of 2009-10, the league leader in three-point attempts was the Orlando Magic, shooting 27.3 per game, making 10.3. From last season to this season, the Celtics’ 48.2 is an increase from 42.5. In Wednesday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Celtics attempted 63 triples, the third-most in a game in league history.
Curry himself has increased his three-point attempts as his career has gone on, from 4.8 as a rookie to 7.7 in his fourth season. In 2013-14, his first all-star campaign, he averaged 7.9, then 8.1, then 11.2, then 10.0, 9.8, 11.7, and 9.8 again (2019-20) and for the last five seasons he has been over 11 three-point attempts per game. In 2020-21, he shot a career-high 12.7 per game, making 42.1 of them. His best year from beyond was his unanimous MVP season of 2015-16, hoisting 11.2 and making a shade over five (5.1) for 45.4%.
James Harden, second to Curry all-time with 3,127 makes, attempts 8.7 per game this season, and from the 2017-18 season through to 2019-20 shot 10.0 (36.7%), 13.2 (36.8%), and 12.4 (35.5%) per game.
Ray Allen, third all-time with 2,973 makes, led the NBA in threes made three times and attempted one time (229, 01-02, 201, 02-03, and 269 and 653 in 2005-06). In 2001-02, he shot 7.7 per game making 43.4%, that percentage a career-best. In his final season in Seattle (2006-07), Allen shot a career-high 8.1 threes per game, making an even 3.0 per game.
Still, no double-digit attempt seasons, while Curry has had eight such years. Harden, with his three seasons of double-digit three attempts, somehow comes across as an underachiever.
But that is only because Curry has been an overachiever. An undersized college guard at 6 foot, 3 inches. Not even 190 pounds. From Davidson College, not UNC or Duke. Kinda sorta in the category of undersized guards with the likes of Isiah Thomas and Chris Paul but not really. A tweener. Drafted 7th overall, one pick behind Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn who played 163 games in three seasons.
Sixteen years later, and he is the undisputed trifecta king and a top 15 player in NBA history. It all started with the three.
One by one. Until 4,000.
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