NEW YORK CITY — Swarming defenses, media circuses and plane problems couldn’t delay the inevitable: Steph Curry is the all-time 3-point king.
It was a long time coming. But the record fell almost immediately Tuesday night before a packed Madison Square Garden. 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 the Knicks’ Alec Burks 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.
READ MORE: Steph Curry, Warriors teammates recount all the special moments of record-breaking night
"STEPHEN CURRY…THE ALL-TIME THREE-POINT KING IN THE NBA."
History.#NBA75 pic.twitter.com/8SawFh2QFk
— NBA (@NBA) December 15, 2021
The Garden was buzzing from the opening tip. 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.
“I’ve been thinking about this number for a long time. I’ve even got it on my shoes. Basketball history. This is pretty special,” Curry told TNT following the game of record-breaking No. 2,974. “I watched (Reggie Miller and Allen) growing up and understood what it meant to shoot the ball because of them and my dad. Full circle moment. I am blessed, for sure.”
Steph Curry hugs Ray Allen after breaking his three-point record 🙌 pic.twitter.com/XsKci7cmLv
— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 15, 2021
Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the record-breaking shot “incredible.”
“The moment was spectacular,” Kerr said. “It was kind of a fadeaway high arcing 3, so the degree of difficulty was there. The crowd was anticipating it. The aftermath was more emotional than I excepted it to be. There was an outpouring of love and support from seemingly everyone in the building.”
Congratulations poured in via social media from fellow NBA stars such as longtime Warriors nemesis LeBron James.
The Lakers star tweeted, “Just landed in Dallas to see @StephenCurry30 broke the record and to make it even doper he did it in the GARDEN!! WOW CONGRATS” BROTHER!! INCREDIBLE.”
Hall of Famer Jason Kidd tweeted, “Congratulations @StephenCurry30! You changed the game!”
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 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: 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 the Garden on Tuesday — Miller on the Turner Sports broadcast; Allen right beside him — to pass the baton to the newest all-time leader, a title Curry shouldn’t relinquish for the foreseeable future. As Green mused recently, “Ultimately, I think he’ll end up beating the record by a thousand-plus 3s.”
However, as Curry closed in on the record, the milestone only became increasingly difficult. Reticent to allow a record to be shattered on their home court, teams doubled down on their already dogged defense of Golden State’s transcendent superstar. Kerr suggested Curry might be pressing with the record in mind.
He entered Tuesday night shooting an uncharacteristic 30% from distance over his previous three games. When he needed 16, he got six. Within 10 of the record, Curry managed only three 3s at Philadelphia. With five Monday in Indiana, he set himself up to make history on basketball’s biggest stage. He hadn’t yet passed every obstacle.
Golden State was left stranded in Indianapolis after its private jet broke down Monday night and was forced to fly into New York Tuesday morning. The team arrived in the city only about five hours before tipoff. But nothing was going to deter Curryon this night.
He hugged his dad, Dell, then his mom, Sonya, and proceeded over to his seat on the bench. Record in hand, Curry let the emotion of the moment — and the long journey to get here — fall over him for a moment, fighting back tears.
This moment between Steph and Dell is everything pic.twitter.com/TWW8SX62De
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 15, 2021
After setting the all-time three-point record, Steph hugs his mom, Sonya. ♥️ pic.twitter.com/ykqFYnFxMQ
— NBA (@NBA) December 15, 2021
A lifetime leading up to this moment.
Stephen Curry soaks it in. pic.twitter.com/YzyMmjlJVX
— NBA (@NBA) December 15, 2021
“You couldn’t have gone any better,” Kerr said. “To have Ray and Reggie here and to do it in the Garden in front of these fans, just great basketball fans. They appreciate the game so much. The atmosphere at the Garden is second to none, so it was really special.”
While Allen was the record-holder, Miller was the player who influenced Curry’s game more than any other because of the way he used screens and moved 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 Kerr, who played against Miller and later was a broadcast partner, 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 537 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’d 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 the Warriors star 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.”
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 six seasons ago, if not ever, and is 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 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.
