Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry is on his way to history, though he does have one small regret about way he’s getting there.
Curry has been closing in on Ray Allen’s NBA record for all-time three-pointers, heading into a trip to Madison Square Garden and a game against the New York Knicks needing just two triples to pass Allen. The hype surrounding Curry has been steadily building for a week, and the two-time MVP now wishes he had slowed that down a bit.
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Curry’s Regret
Just before the Warriors went on the road, there was the chance for Curry to pass Allen before a home crowd with what would have been a pair of records. Curry needed to make 16 three-pointers to set the record against the Portland Trail Blazers, which itself would have broken teammate Klay Thompson’s single-game record of 13, in a single game.
Curry discussed the possibility of taking down both records, but said after the game he wishes he had avoided feeding into the media frenzy and then struggling before the Warriors home crowd.
“In retrospect, the only thing that I would have changed … like that crazy fade-type of mentality of ‘Yeah, I could have hit 16 and broke it at home.’ I think that conversation sparked a little extra — I won’t call it tension — anxiousness about that whole night,” Curry said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Those shots I took, I missed my first four, I would still shoot those whether it was Game 1 or Game 82 or in the playoffs, that’s how you approach the game.”
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There had been some speculation that the Warriors planned to rest Curry against Indiana, setting him up to take down the record in the NBA’s biggest market and most storied arena, but he ultimately played and helped push his team to a close victory. Curry scored 26 points, hitting five of his 15 three-point attempts in the 102-100 victory.
Difficult Road for Warriors
Though Curry went into Tuesday’s game against the Knicks just two three-pointers short of Allen, it still would not be a smooth path to the record. The Warriors were not only one the second end of back-to-back games, but the team also ran into some travel difficulties that left them with a very short time to prepare.
As Sam Quinn of CBS Sports reported, mechanical issues grounded the team’s planned flight on Monday night, and the team wasn’t able to get in the air until 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday. That put them on track to arrive in New York at noon and not to the hotel for another one to two hours, giving them little time to prepare for the 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
As Quinn noted, this type of immediate turnaround is “exceedingly abnormal” in the NBA.
“Modern-day problem. But they’ll be here and it’ll be fun.”
Bob Myers didn’t sound overly concerned about the Warriors’ travel problems to NYC and is eager to watch Steph make NBA history
“Teams do everything in their power to ensure that they never have to travel and play on the same day, but sometimes, the situation is out of their hands,” Quinn wrote. “That was the case for Golden State, who will now need to beat not only the Knicks, but their own exhaustion in Tuesday’s game.”
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Warriors’ Steph Curry Shares His Regret About Chasing 3-Point History