Four games into the 2019-20 campaign, Stephen Curry suffered a broken hand in a high-effort play. It took over three months before he could return to the court, but his one game back would conclude his season as the COVID-19 outbreak cut the Dubs’ season short and cap Curry at just five games for the year.
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Given all of this time off and inability to play competitive basketball in a COVID world, and not to mention losing his backcourt-mate and Splash Brother in Klay Thompson to a ruptured Achilles prior to the season, you would think Curry may struggle this season.
But instead, he is averaging 29.7 points on 4.8 splashes on a 41.1 percent clip to go with 5.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals. This is the second highest scoring output of his career, second only to his 30.1 scored through his 2015-16 unanimous MVP season. Curry’s play through the current campaign has earned him his seventh trip to the NBA All-Star Game, as well as participating in the 3-Point Contest, which tips off this Sunday (3:30 p.m., TNT) in Atlanta.
In a season unlike any other — playing a shortened season, under tightened health regulations and without fans in attendance — Curry has managed to push his game forward to keep the Warriors in a competitive spot with a 19-18 record through the first half of the season, placing the Dubs 9th in a tightly-packed Western Conference with five teams within three games of each other. But on top of the success he has brought to the team, Curry has notched several accolades along the way, only adding to a decorated list of career achievements.
Through the first half of the 2020-21 season, Curry has reached career totals of 17,458 points and 2,664 career treys in 734 regular season games. With those he surpassed Reggie Miller (2,560) to become second on the all-time made 3-pointers list (behind only Ray Allen’s 2,973), while moving ahead of Al Attles (711), Paul Arizin (713), and Jeff Mullins (716) in the number of games played as a Warrior. There also now stands just one Warrior with more points in the history of the franchise than Curry, and that is Wilt Chamberlain.
Along the way, Curry also notched a new career- and Chase Center-high with 62 points on Jan. 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Those are just the highlights though! Take a look back at some of the other key dates, games, and highlights from Curry’s season so far:
Dec. 22 at Brooklyn | Nets 125 - Warriors 99
Stephen Curry appeared in his 700th career regular season game, becoming the sixth player in Warriors history to appear in at least 700 regular season games, joining Chris Mullin, Nate Thurmond, Jeff Mullins, Paul Arizin & Al Attles. The game also tipped off Curry’s 12th season with the Warriors, which trails only Chris Mullin’s 13 seasons for the most in franchise history.
Dec. 25 at Milwaukee | Buck 138 - Warriors 99
Stephen Curry’s 19 points on the day moved him past Hall of Famer Rick Barry (16,447) for second on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, placing him behind only Wilt Chamberlain (17,783).
Dec. 27 at Chicago | Warriors 129 - Bulls 128
A momentous night for Curry as he found not one, but two ways to etch his name in the record books. With his first three pointer of the night, he became just the third player in NBA history to reach 2,500 career made 3-pointers, joining Ray Allen (2,973) and Reggie Miller (2,560) in the feat.
The Dubs’ guard also made all nine of his free throw attempts, extending his streak of consecutive made free throws to 64. That set a new franchise record for consecutive shots made from the charity stripe, eclipsing the mark held by Rick Barry who made 60 consecutive in 1976.
Jan. 3 vs. Portland | Warriors 137 - Trail Blazers 122
Curry cruised his way to a career-best and new scoring high at Chase Center: 62 points. It was clear from the opening tip that Curry was aggressive: he finished the first quarter with 21 points on 7-of-11 made from the field. By the end of the night, Curry’s effort got him to the line for 19 free throws, another career mark notched by the Warrior. The only blemish was his 18-of-19 line from the the charity stripe. That one miss ended Curry’s career-high of consecutive free throws made at 80 shots in a row.
Jan. 23 at Utah | Jazz 127 - Warriors 108
Curry splashed five tree-pointers, giving him 2,562 career treys by end of night and thereby passing Reggie Miller (2,560) for sole possession of second on the all-time three-pointers made list.
Curry also received a special visit during his postgame presser as Miller dropped in to congratulate the two-time MVP.
Feb. 2 vs. Boston | Celtics 111 - Warriors 107
Curry dropped 38 points on 12-for-21 from the floor and 7-for-14 from distance while also pulling down 11 rebounds and handing out eight assists. It was his fifth double-double of the season and third of the points-rebounds variety. He became the second Warriors player ever to cross the 17,000 career points threshold, joining Chamberlain (17,783) in the feat.
Feb. 6 at Dallas | Mavericks 134 - Warriors 132
Another big night as he drops 57 points, the second most scored in a game in his career. He did it with a 30-spot on 7-for-10 from beyond the arc in the first half alone. Curry joined Chamberlain as the only players in Warriors history to post multiple 57-point games in a single season.
Feb. 11 vs. Orlando | Warriors 111 - Magic 105
Curry finished with 40 points, his third game of at least 40 points this season. His 10-for-19 effort on 3-pointers was his 17th game of his career with at least 10 made threes, more than three times as many as any other player in NBA history. Lastly, this marked the 13th straight game he made at least four 3-pointers, tying an NBA record held by James Harden.
Feb. 15 vs. Cleveland | Warriors 129 - Cavaliers 98
He extended his consecutive games streak with a three-pointer to 90 games, passing Dana Barros for the fourth-longest such streak in NBA history. Curry owns the record with a 157-game three-point streak from Nov. 13, 2014 – Nov. 3, 2016. He also became the first guard since Michael Jordan (11 consecutive games) in 1995-96 to score at least 25 points while shooting at least 50 percent from the field in 10-straight games (dating back to 1970-71 when starters were first tracked).
Feb. 17 vs. Miami | Warriors 120 - Heat 112
On an un-Curry-like shooting night against the Miami Heat where he finished 8-for-25 from the field, the two-time MVP still closed out the overtime period with a pair of dagger threes to lift the Warriors to the win.
Feb. 24 at Indiana | Warriors 111 - Pacers 107
Curry scored a game-high-tying 24 points, ending his career-best streak scoring 25- plus points to 13 games. He was the first Warriors player to accomplish such a feat since Chris Mullin during the 1988-89 season. The franchise’s longest since Rick Barry’s 17-game streak scoring 25-plus in 1974-75.
Feb. 26 vs. Charlotte | Warriors 130 - Hornets 121
He finished with a game-high 29 points with three three-pointers. He made his first field goal of the night, the 6,000th of his career, joining Wilt Chamberlain (7,216), Rick Barry (6,466) and Chris Mullin (6,150) as the only Warriors to make at least 6,000 field goals for the Warriors franchise.
Feb. 28 at Los Angeles | Lakers 117 - Warriors 91
Stephen Curry hit a three-pointer for the 96th consecutive game, passing Klay Thompson (95 games) for the third-longest three-point streak in NBA history. Curry owns the record with a 157-game streak from 2014-16.