History made
Seth Curry passes Ray Allen to claim NBA 3-point record
Swarming defenses, media circuses and plane problems couldn’t delay the inevitable: Steph Curry is the alltime 3-point king.
It was a long time coming. But the record fell almost immediately Tuesday night. It took Curry only 4 minutes, 27 seconds of game time and three shots to claim the crown from Ray Allen, whom Curry embraced at midcourt after the Warriors called time immediately following the shot. With a defender closing in on him at the top right wing, Curry rose, fired and made history. Andrew Wiggins got the assist.
From the get-go, it was clear Curry was gunning for the record and going to get it quickly. Entering the game only one behind Allen on the all-time leaderboard, Curry took a few steps across halfcourt on Golden State’s third possession of the night, crossed over and drained the tying shot — nothing but net — from the top of the key.
The Garden was buzzing. It exploded once Curry’s shot splashed through the net.
Curry made a beeline for Draymond Green, the teammate who has assisted or screened on so many of those 2,974 3-pointers, and the two shared an extended and emotional hug before Curry made his way to the Warriors bench and eventually over to Allen at midcourt.
As Curry was happy to make note of throughout the last leg of his pursuit, any of the possible venues provided a satisfying narrative. He could have broken Klay Thompson’s single-game record. He could have done it against his brother. It could have come on the home court of his idol and previous 3-point leader Reggie Miller. Instead, it came inside basketball’s mecca, the site of so many moments in history, and the place where Curry, eight years earlier, showed the first glimpses of what could be possible.
Curry surpassed Miller on the all-time leaderboard last season, leaving him one target left to claim a record that’s long held a special meaning for him: Ray Allen, who took the crown from Miller a decade ago and has held it ever since, with 2,973 career 3-pointers.
All three of the 3-point giants were inside Madison Square Garden on Tuesday — Miller on the Turner Sports broadcast; Allen courtside in MSG’S “Celebrity Row” — to pass the baton to the newest all-time
leader, a title Curry shouldn't relinquish for the foreseeable future. As Draymond Green mused recently, “Ultimately, I think he'll end up beating the record by a thousand-plus 3s.”
While Allen was the recordholder, Miller was the player who influenced Curry's game more than any other, utilizing screens and moving without the ball. In Curry's words, Miller had “a lot” to do with how he developed his own style.
“Just because of that creativity to create space in different ways. The use of deception, changing speeds with his body, being a hell of a guard off the ball,” Curry said. “It helped me a lot to understand what it meant to be effective and efficient.”
Miller's influence is evident anytime Curry steps on the court, but Curry has taken his proficiency to another level and changed the game along with it.
“I think what makes Steph unique is his ability to play like Reggie off the ball but to play way better than Reggie did on the ball,” said coach Steve Kerr, who played against Miller and broadcasted alongside him, eventually developing a friendship. “There's never been anybody like Steph who actually has that combination of on and off ball brilliance.”
It took Curry 540 fewer attempts, 511 fewer games and six fewer seasons to reach Allen's mark, a credit not only to the prolific nature of his game but also the enduring health of a player whose ankles almost stood in the way.
Curry's pace also speaks to the way he has pushed the game to evolve.
In his rush to capture the 3-point crown, Curry launched 17 shots from behind the arc last week in the Warriors' final game of their most recent homestand. It was the 27th time in his career he's attempted that many 3-pointers, a single-game mark never reached by Miller, who is third on the all-time list, and one that Allen only hit once.
Allen's record for 3s in a single season has been eclipsed 15 times since Curry first broke that mark in 2012-13, and he is on pace this season to break his own current first-place mark of 402.
“The game changed over the years,” Allen said. “I think the way the game changed, Steph had a lot to do with the innovative style of play with the 3 ball.”
Record in hand, Curry is hardly walking off into the sunset.
At 33 years old, he is playing at his highest level since at least his last MVP campaign, if not ever, and mounting a serious campaign for his third Maurice Podoloff Trophy.
“The biggest thing is the power output, his speed and his explosive movements, they're all getting stronger and better by the year,” said Brandon Payne, the personal trainer Curry has worked with since his rookie season. “There was a pretty sharp increase in his physical ability that you wouldn't normally see from someone his age, so he's still coming up to that peak. He hasn't reached it yet.”
Recently, to refine Curry's precision, Payne and Curry stopped counting certain baskets, even some swishes; if it's not within 3 inches of the center of the hoop — diameter: 10 inches — it's a miss.
Before Allen, Curry idolized Reggie Miller, who bucked the popular style of play in his age by shooting with volume and precision from behind the arc. With 2,560 3-pointers, he held the record for six years before Allen surpassed him in 2011.
Kerr has had a courtside seat to see both records fall, first from the broadcast table during the TNT call of Allen's record-breaking game and now as a coach for Curry.
Doc Rivers, who coached Allen with the Celtics and saw Curry Saturday night as the 76ers coach, narrowly escaped being witness to another record.
“Greatest shooter of all time: Steph, Ray, Reggie has to be in the room, right?” Rivers said. “I don't know. … No one wants to guard any of them.”
When it comes to who is remembered for stretching the realm of what's possible with a basketball, though, there is only one name: Steph Curry.