It only took Stephen Curry 64 seconds to tie the record.
Stephen Curry’s first 3 on Tuesday came just a few feet in front of the New York Knicks logo, when he crossed over from right to left and rose up. The ball hardly touched the net. Two-thousand, nine-hundred and seventy-three.
Just over three minutes later, Curry came off a down screen, caught a pass from Andrew Wiggins and fired. Two-thousand, nine-hundred and seventy-four. History.
The new 3-point king rose his hands in the air, blew a kiss to the crowd and pounded his chest on his way back down the court. After embracing his teammates, Curry hugged his dad Dell on the baseline.
It took Ray Allen 1,300 regular season games to set the mark, but now Curry is in sole possession of the record. Curry, 33, needed 789 games.
Curry broke the record in Madison Square Garden in front of both Allen and Reggie Miller — the third most prolific 3-point shooter ever. Miller, one of Curry’s idols, helped revolutionize the sport with his long-range shooting.
Before Monday’s game, Golden State coach Steve Kerr said what makes Curry great is that he’s as good as Miller was without the ball and much better with it.
“There’s never been anybody like Steph,” Kerr said.
Miller, Allen and Curry shared a moment together before tipoff in the Garden.
Then, Curry put on a show.
Curry is the prohibitive favorite to win the 2021-22 MVP award, which would be his third. Entering Monday’s historic game, he was averaging 27.1 points, 6.3 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game for the first-place Warriors.
“Steph appeals to everyone,” Kerr said before the record-breaking game. “Not just the hardcore fans who are looking at his shooting percentage, but I think fans are attracted to him because of his humility, his story and how hard he’s had to work. From that standpoint, it transcends sports, somewhat. I just think it’s a great testament to someone who is gifted but who has earned everything through work. Beyond the gift he was given, he had to work so hard. And he’s always been so gracious and aware of how many people helped him along the way.”
Here are Tom Tolbert and Rod Brooks reacting to the record-breaking moment in real-time on KNBR