For the second time in 48 hours, Steph Curry torched the San Antonio Spurs — the sixth-ranked defense in the NBA — to guide the Golden State Warriors to a 109-108 victory on Friday night. In doing so, he tied Michael Jordan’s longstanding record for most games with 40+ points after turning 30.
The Warriors legend now has 44 games with 40+ points since turning 30 during the 2018-19 season. In a postgame interview with the “NBA on Prime” crew, Curry was asked if he “impresses” himself with his extraordinary feats.
“Yes, for sure,” Curry responded with a smile. “I’m blessed to keep playing this game at a high level. The longevity of it is fun, the competition, the back-and-forth with the young stars, it brings the best out of you.”
Curry proceeded to praise his teammates, notably Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski, Gary Payton II and Jimmy Butler III, for coming up big in the fourth quarter of a nail-biter of a contest amid a hostile environment in San Antonio.
Steph Curry Rewrites History
Besides tying “His Airness” for most 40-point games for a player past 30, Curry surpassed LeBron James’ record for most 45-point games after the age of 35.
He also joined MJ and James as the third 37-year-old with consecutive 40-point games.
Steph Curry Feels Blessed
Going into Friday’s game, Curry was admittedly aware that he was nearing Michael Jordan’s record. So much so that he did a hand gesture of ‘2’ and ‘3’ after hitting the 40-point mark, signifying that he had equalled the G.O.A.T., Michael Jordan.
“Very aware,” Curry said of the record, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “I did it backwards, though. It’s the second time I’ve done that. But yeah, I was aware of it for sure.
“I didn’t know I was one away until last game and then obviously was asked about it, and then when I got over that number – that’s pretty cool, just from an individual accomplishment perspective. To be able to be in that company and longevity is something that I pride myself on. So that was pretty cool.”
Curry also thanked his head coach, Steve Kerr, for a pre-game speech that motivated him to equal Jordan. Kerr was a teammate of Jordan on the Chicago Bulls.
“He rarely talks about his Chicago days,” Curry said of Kerr, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
“He gave some references to how they approached their team and their identity by comparisons to a band coming together. You got your lead singers, your bass, your acoustic, electric, drummer, stagehands, guys plugging in the speaker. He said he was just above the guy plugging in the speaker.”
The Warriors (8-6) will next face the lowly New Orleans Pelicans (2-10) in another away fixture on Sunday night.
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