Journey to 2,974: Steph Curry’s Path to a Remarkable Record

It’s been a tense few weeks of tracking threes, but Steph Curry is now just two shy of eclipsing Ray Allen’s all-time mark of 2,973. Golden State plays in New York on Tuesday, and it’s almost poetic that his record-breaking night should come in Madison Square Garden. This will be Curry’s 789th career game, and if he breaks Allen’s record (as we all suspect he will), he will have done so in 511 fewer games.

Allen, one of the NBA’s greatest three-point shooters, needed 1,300 career games to reach 2,973 threes, and Curry is ready to blow that pace out of the water. What does the future hold for Threezus? He’s just 28 triples away from 3,000, a mark which has never been reached in the history of the Association. Curry is under contract with Golden State through 2026, and if he stays healthy for the next five seasons, he should certainly hit 4,000 threes.

We’ve never seen such a dominant three-point shooter, and to watch Curry chase Allen’s record is truly special. On the cusp of setting one of the most coveted NBA records, we here at OwnersBox thought it might be appropriate to take a stroll down memory lane and chronicle Chef Curry’s journey from first-round pick out of Davidson to the greatest shooter in NBA history. Let’s get into the highlights, the timeline, and a (still growing) mountain of records for a player who revolutionized the way the game is played.

Timeline

• 2009 – Drafted No. 7 overall by Golden State after Minnesota spent back-to-back picks on Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio
• Oct. 30, 2009 – First career three – In his second NBA game, Curry hit 2-of-3 triples in a 123-101 loss to the Suns
• Feb. 27, 2010 – Curry hits his 100th three in 58 games. He hit 166 of them as a rookie, which was a record at the time. That mark has since been surpassed by the likes of Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Saddiq Bey, Donovan Mitchell, and Damian Lillard.
• Jan. 26, 2013 – In his 221st game, Curry hits his 500th career three against Milwaukee
• April 17, 2013 – Curry eclipses Ray Allen’s single-season record of 269 threes set in 2005-06.
• Jan. 7, 2015 – Curry becomes the fastest player in NBA history to hit 1,000 threes in his 369th game, 88 fewer than Dennis Scott and 104 games fewer than Ray Allen. That record has since been broken by Buddy Hield, who did so in 350 games.
• Nov. 14, 2015 – Curry passes his father Dell on the all-time three-pointers made list. The senior Curry hit 1,245 threes across 1,083 games, while his son needed just 427 games to pass him.
• Feb. 27, 2016 – Curry ties the NBA record with 12 made threes in one the most memorable games of his career, a thrilling OT victory against the Thunder.
• Mar. 11, 2016 – Curry becomes the fastest player to hit 1,500 threes. He did so in 477 games compared to Ray Allen’s 661.
• April 13, 2016 – Curry hits 10 triples in the season finale against Memphis to bring his season total to 402. He remains the only player ever to hit 400 threes in a single season.
• May 10, 2016 – Curry becomes the first unanimous MVP in NBA history
• Nov. 17, 2016 – Curry hits 13-of-17 threes to set the single-game record. Klay Thompson broke the record with 14 threes in 2018, and Zach LaVine tied it with 13 threes in 2019.
• Dec. 4, 2017 – Curry becomes the fastest player to hit 2,000 threes, doing so in 597 games

Stephen Curry followed up the no-look layup by making his 2,000th career three-pointer!#DubNation pic.twitter.com/jjjmzVqEUQ

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) December 5, 2017

• Dec. 27, 2020 – Curry becomes just the third player in NBA history to hit 2,500 three-pointers. He did it in 702 games, shattering the pace of Ray Allen (1,021) and Reggie Miller (1,288).

Congrats to @StephenCurry30 of the @warriors for becoming the third player in NBA history to make 2,500 three-pointers! pic.twitter.com/za234UejBX

— NBA (@NBA) December 28, 2020

NBA Records

Curry has 12 regular-season games with at least 11 made threes. All others in NBA history have just 14 combined.

Of the top-10 most three-pointers made in a single season, Curry owns five of those seasons.

He’s the only player in NBA history to hit at least 400 triples in a single season (2015-16).

Only Curry and James Harden have hit at least 300 threes in a single season. Harden did it once, but Curry did it four times.

Curry is one of four players in NBA history to average at least three triples per game, and he leads all of them with a 3.8 career mark.

Curry has the most made threes in NBA playoff history with 470 in 112 games. Second place? LeBron James with 432 in 266 games.

Curry is tied for the most threes made in a single postseason (98) with Klay Thompson.

Of the top-10 most three-pointers made in a single postseason, Curry owns five of those seasons. Curry has hit at least 60 threes in a single postseason five times. All others in NBA history have combined for six such seasons.

Curry holds the record for most threes hit in the Finals with 121 in 28 games. Next up? LeBron James with 101 in 55 games.

Curry holds the record for most threes hit in a single Finals with 32 (2016), five more than Danny Green’s 27.

Only four players have hit at least 20 threes in a single Finals series: Danny Green, Ray Allen, Klay Thompson (twice), and Curry (four times).

Curry holds the record for most threes hit in a single Finals game (9), which he set in Game 2 of the 2018 Finals in a win over Cleveland.

3 years ago today, Stephen Curry went for 33 PTS and 8 AST in Game 2 of the 2018 Finals. He set a new NBA Finals record with 9 made threes.

Steph scored 16 PTS (5-5 3P) in the 4th quarter. pic.twitter.com/FXINiZHkFg

— Antonin (@antonin_org) June 3, 2021

There have been 16 Finals games in NBA history in which a player hit at least seven threes. Ray Allen did it twice, all others did it once. Curry? Five times!

Curry is one of 10 players in NBA history to hit at least nine triples in a single playoff game and one of just six to do it more than once.

Career Highlights

Feb. 27, 2013 – Curry scores 54 points and hits 11 triples at Madison Square Garden, where he’ll be playing tonight

Feb. 27, 2016 – The game that everyone remembers. Curry hit a then-NBA-record 12 threes, including the game-winner in OT from 38-feet out. This one defined Curry’s career and was a harbinger of the end of the Durant/Westbrook era in OKC.

June 4, 2018 – Curry hits an NBA Finals record nine triples as the Warriors rout the Cavs 122-103 to take a 2-0 series lead. Golden State would go on to sweep the series.

Jan. 3, 2021 – Curry scores a career-high 62 points on 18-of-31 shooting, including 8-of-16 three-pointers. He finished the 2020-21 season with games of 57 and 53 as well.

Dec. 14, 2021 – Curry has a chance to make history in the Mecca. With just two made threes, he’ll pass Ray Allen for the most career threes in NBA history.

Editor’s note: We think the record falls tonight!

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