Stephen Curry on Friday night joined some elite company on a list that he figures to top in the not-so-distant future.
Curry made five three-pointers to move into third place all-time in NBA history behind Ray Allen and Reggie Miller as the Golden State Warriors rolled past the Chicago Bulls 146-109 in their most lopsided win of the season.
Curry passed Jason Terry with back-to-back treys early in the third quarter and ended a 28-point night with 2,285 career three-pointers, trailing only Allen (2,973) and Miller (2,560).
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Curry saved the game ball and hopes to get it autographed by Allen and Miller, players he called trendsetters when it comes to long-range shooting.
“Obviously I want to catch them and put together many more years at this pace,” Curry said.
“But just knowing that those two guys are right in front of me, for sure. I respect the game and I respect what guys have done before and those two guys are guys I’ve looked up to,” he said.
Curry already holds the single-season record of 402 three-pointers made in the 2015-2016 season and has moved into third place, despite playing at least 600 fewer games than Allen and Miller.
It figures to be only a matter of time before 30-year-old Curry surpasses those two and takes the mark to a whole new level.
“We all know he’s going to break the record,” teammate Kevin Durant said.
“He sets such a high standard and a high bar. It is cool, but he has another season or two until he gets to the No. 1 spot and then he’ll shatter that record, so I’ll wait for that,” he said.
Curry was not even the most dangerous long-range shooter on his team on Friday, as Klay Thompson picked up where he left off on his record-setting night in Chicago earlier this season by making seven more three-pointers and scoring 30 points.
Thompson set an NBA mark in the first meeting between the teams on Oct. 29 last year by hitting 14 three-pointers as part of a 52-point night while playing only the first three quarters.
He made three from long range in the first 70 seconds of the rematch and the rout was on.
“That was incredible,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Unbelievable start for him. It was a great first quarter, obviously set the tone.”
The Warriors took a double-digit lead after just 2 minutes, 19 seconds and the Bulls never got the game back within single digits.
Jonas Jerebko banked in a three-pointer from beyond half-court at the end of the first quarter to give Golden State a 43-17 lead that grew to 44 points in the third quarter.
Durant added 22 for the Warriors, his 15th straight game with at least 20 points.
Zach LaVine scored 29 points to lead the Bulls, who could not overcome the poor start and lost their sixth straight game.
“I don’t know if we were watching them, in awe fearful,” coach Jim Boylen said.
“I don’t know what it was. We talked about it and I thought we came out in the second quarter and played better. We did respond, but we were just following them around to start the game and that was a little bit too respectful. I am disappointed in that,” he added.
In other games on Friday, the Portland Trail Blazers torched the Charlotte Hornets 127-96, the Washington Wizards defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 113-106, the Dallas Mavericks edged the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-115 and the Atlanta Hawks held on to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-121.
Elsewhere, the Toronto Raptors crushed the Brooklyn Nets 122-105, the Indiana Pacers outplayed the New York Knicks 121-106, the Utah Jazz crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 113-95 and the Houston Rockets routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 141-113.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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