The record books keep bending around Stephen Curry. The standings do not.
On Sunday night in Portland, Curry delivered another historic performance, torching the Portland Trail Blazers for 48 points at Moda Center. In the process, he passed Michael Jordan for the most 40-point games by a player after turning 30 years old.
It was the kind of night that would usually define a season highlight reel.
Instead, it ended in another loss.
The Golden State Warriors surrendered the lead late and fell 136–131, wasting one of the most prolific scoring nights of Curry’s career. History was made. Momentum was not.
Warriors: Curry Passes Jordan Again
GettySteph Curry of the Golden State Warriors scored 48 points on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
With his 40th point late in the third quarter, Curry officially moved ahead of Jordan for the most 40-point games by a player over 30 years old. The new leaderboard now reads:
-
Stephen Curry – 45
-
Michael Jordan – 44
-
Damian Lillard – 31
-
Kobe Bryant – 30
-
James Harden – 30
Curry also reached another milestone quietly embedded in the chaos. Sunday marked his 75th career 40-point game, pushing him into the top 10 all-time in that category.
That context matters. Not because Curry is chasing numbers, but because he is doing this at 37 years old, in a season where Golden State desperately needs every ounce of offense he can generate.
This Version of Steph Isn’t Slowing Down
Curry has now topped 40 points four times in his last 18 games. That pace is staggering.
For comparison, he had three 40-point games all of last season. Two years ago, he had six. The last time he was scoring at this frequency was during the 2020–21 season, when he led the league at 32.0 points per game and finished third in MVP voting.
He was 32 then.
He is 37 now.
There is historical precedent for late-career greatness. LeBron James averaged over 30 points at age 37 and nearly 29 at 38. But Curry’s path is different. He is not overpowering defenders with size. He is sprinting, relocating, absorbing contact and carrying offensive loads few guards ever have at this age.
The unsettling part is that it all still looks sustainable.
Warriors’ Bigger Issue Was on the Other End
If Curry’s night felt familiar, that is because it was.
Two nights earlier, he scored 39 against Minnesota. Golden State lost. Against Portland, he poured in 21 points in the fourth quarter alone. Golden State lost again.
The common thread was not offense.
It was defense.
Portland scored 40 points in the fourth quarter on 65 percent shooting. The Warriors struggled to contain penetration, failed to recover in transition, and repeatedly surrendered open three-point looks. The Blazers, a team ranked near the bottom of the league in three-point efficiency, shot over 50 percent from deep.
Steve Kerr did not deflect afterward.
“When you make 24 threes, Steph makes 12 of them, you should win the game,” Kerr said. “We couldn’t stop them.”
It was not a scheme issue. It was execution. Missed rotations. Late closeouts. Poor transition defense. The same problems that have quietly followed the Warriors all season.
Warriors Are Asking Steph to Do Too Much
GettyStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors motions to the crowd after a play.
The uncomfortable truth is this.
Golden State is now 3–5 this season when Curry scores at least 34 points. They need his brilliance to stay competitive, but they are not structured well enough to capitalize on it.
This starts to resemble the 2020–21 Warriors. A team powered by an all-time great season. A group constantly chasing games late. One player being asked to keep the lights on while the foundation wobbles.
Curry is delivering. Night after night.
The question is whether the Warriors can meet him halfway.
What This Means Going Forward
Curry’s place in history is secure. Records will continue to fall as long as he is healthy and playing at this level.
What remains uncertain is whether Golden State can stabilize enough on the other end to turn these nights into wins. Defense, late-game execution, and supporting scoring all need to improve. Quickly.
Curry is still pulling. Still sprinting. Still scoring like the league has never seen.
The Warriors just have to decide whether they are going to let these performances drift into trivia, or build something worthy of them while they still can.
Because history is happening in real time.
And it deserves a better ending than this.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Warriors’ Steph Curry Does Something Even Michael Jordan Didn’t appeared first on Heavy Sports.