One game after breaking Ray Allen’s all-time record for 3-pointers, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors will face Allen’s former team as they visit the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
With his second made basket from distance Wednesday, Curry eclipsed Allen’s record with his 2,974th career made 3-pointer at 7:33 left in the first quarter of his 789th career game. The historic moment came amid the spotlight of facing the New York Knicks at iconic Madison Square Garden.
The crowd erupted and play was halted as Curry shared an embrace with teammates, his father — former NBA player Dell Curry — and Allen. Also in attendance was Reggie Miller, whom Allen surpassed for the 3-point record on Feb. 9, 2011 in Boston.
“It was a pretty special moment. I shot it, I backtracked and saw my pops over on the side, saw my teammates going crazy. I felt the whole buzz of the whole arena — it was special,” Curry said. “I pride myself on shooting a high percentage, I pride myself on allowing that to help us win games.”
Curry finished with a team-high 22 points on 5-of-14 shooting from deep in the Warriors’ 105-96 win over the Knicks. It was Golden State’s fourth victory in five games after dropping two of three Nov. 30-Dec. 4.
Golden State enters with the NBA’s best record at 23-5. After holding New York to 36.1 percent shooting (30 of 83), the Warriors remain the only team that has not allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better from the floor this season.
Curry’s co-star in the Bay Area is inching closer to a return as guard Klay Thompson was recalled from G-League affiliate Santa Cruz on Wednesday, along with promising young center James Wiseman.
Steve Kerr said Thompson (right Achilles tendon repair) will not be ready to return this week. Both Thompson and Wiseman (right knee meniscus tear) will remain sidelined for Friday’s game in Boston.
Boston is coming off an encouraging win of its own after Jayson Tatum scored 42 points and a returning Jaylen Brown added 19 in a 117-103 home win against defending champion Milwaukee on Monday.
The win snapped a three-game skid for the Celtics as they returned home a disappointing 1-4 West Coast road trip. Brown had missed the team’s entire road swing with a lingering right hamstring injury before returning against the Bucks.
“When (Brown is) healthy and when he’s here with us, we’re just a totally different team,” said Boston center Al Horford, who added 10 points in the victory.
Five Celtics scored in double figures and the team shot an even 50 percent from the field (43 of 86) while limiting two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting and eight rebounds.
Overall, the Celtics have lost six of their last 10 games — but five of those losses came on the road. Boston is 7-4 at home this season.
Boston was without guard Josh Richardson (COVID-19 health and safety protocols) and forward Bruno Fernando (lower back spams) versus Milwaukee. Richardson cleared the league’s COVID protocols and will play Friday, but Jabari Parker entered protocols Thursday and will not play against Golden State.
The Celtics swept their two-game series against the Warriors last season. Boston won 111-107 on the road Feb. 2 behind Tatum’s 27 points and prevailed 119-114 at home April 17 thanks to a 44-point night from Tatum.
