The Warriors may possibly be all fucked up—in fact a good sign of that is that they made 21 threes against the Kings and nearly lost—but they can still put on a show. Last night’s game featured at least four shooting records:
- The combined 41 threes made between the two teams broke the NBA record.
- It was the first time ever both teams in a game made at least 20 threes.
- The Kings’ 20 made threes was a franchise record.
- Steph Curry’s 10 and Buddy Hield’s eight marked the first time two players in a game made at least eight threes.
And that was with neither team making one in the last three minutes! Thanks to a 20-point fourth quarter from Curry—who played the entire frame—the Warriors won 127-123.
In addition to Curry’s 10 and Hield’s eight, Justin Jackson made five off the bench. No Warrior other than Curry made more than three. The teams were hot, as they needed just a combined 84 attempts to make the 41 threes.
For Jackson, it was by far the best game of his career, and it still ended with Curry faking him out with a nasty jab step to break the record:
In addition to putting the Warriors on his back and Jackson on the ground, Curry also did some innovative complaining about a call:
Curry had 42 points and called it a “a fun way to play,” but his teammates—even ones who played well—had differing takes. Draymond Green, who definitely does not blame himself for what has happened to his game this year, said that “You can’t really play defense in the league today,” while Kevin Durant just outright said “I’d rather play inside the 3-point line...It will cease here in a second.”
Draymond may be doing some self-interested whining, but is also objectively correct.