ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 51 points and set an NBA record with a 3-pointer in his 128th consecutive game as the Golden State Warriors beat the Orlando Magic 130-114 on Thursday night.
A night after scoring 42 in a six-point victory at Miami, Curry made 20 of 27 shots from the field, including 10 3-pointers. The Warriors pulled away in the closing minutes of the third quarter, with Curry banking in a 44-foot shot at the buzzer for a 99-91 lead.
The reigning MVP topped 50 points for the third time this season, the first player to do it that many times since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in 2008-09.
That wasn’t his only highlight of the night.
Curry surpassed Kyle Korver’s mark of 127 straight games with a 3, which he tied while making six 3s at Miami on Wednesday night.
“For Steph, it’s just like making a basket in 127 games. It doesn’t matter that it’s a 3. That is like a layup to him. It’s not surprising at all,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game.
Including the postseason, Curry has made 3s in 149 straight games, also a record.
“I have a hard time seeing how that streak is ever going to end. It would have to be kind of a fluke night,” Orlando coach Scott Skiles said.
“The way he makes them is totally different from Kyle,” Skiles added. “Kyle is sprinting off screens and it’s possible you could switch out and maybe take some away from him, whereas Steph, there are so many of them off the dribble and from 30 feet and fading away. ... He’d just have to be off that night, and that certainly doesn’t happen very often.”
The Warriors improved to 52-5, the best 57-game start in league history. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls won 51 of their first 57 on the way to finishing 72-10. Curry, who scored 24 in the third quarter, was 10 of 15 on 3-pointers and finished with eight assists and seven rebounds.