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Steph Curry breaks NBA record for 3-pointers

Fred Jeter | 12/16/2021, 6 p.m.
Master marksman Stephen Curry is taking dead aim on an all-time NBA record.
Stephen Curry

Master marksman Stephen Curry is taking dead aim on an all-time NBA record.

The 33-year-old Golden State Warriors guard started this week with 2,967 3-pointers, just six short of career leader Ray Allen.

On Tuesday night, Curry broke Allen’s record, finishing the game against the New York Knicks with 2,977 3-pointers in 789 games.

Allen and Curry have clearly been the best at connecting from beyond 23 feet, nine inches since the “three-ball” was adopted by the NBA prior to the 1979-80 season.

More than 400 shots behind Allen and Curry, in third place, is Reggie Miller with 2,560.

Not only have Allen, who retired from the NBA in 2014, and Curry swished the most “triples,” they also boast among the highest percentages.

Curry has made 43.2 percent of his career attempts from the distance. Allen swished an even 40 percent.

Coincidentally, Warriors Coach Steve Kerr holds the mark for highest percentage, 45.4, but his career total of 726 is far down the list.

Among the current career Top 10 3-pointers, only Kyle Korver (42.9 percent) has reached the 40 threshold.

Boston Celtics great Larry Bird, a three-time winner of the NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest, made 649 3-pointers while hitting 38 percent between 1979 and 1992.

Playing for Boston, Chris Ford made the first 3-pointer in NBA history on Oct. 12, 1979. That game also served as Bird’s debut with the Celtics.

The defunct American Basketball League and American Basketball Association had experimented with bonus shots earlier. Louie Dampier, playing for the Kentucky Colonels, was the ABA all-time “triple” shooter with 794 3-pointers between 1967 and 1976. Dampier finished his career with the San Antonio Spurs, prior to the NBA adopting the shot.

Curry, a native of Charlotte, N.C., and graduate of Davidson College, shows little sign of losing his touch. Helping Golden State to a 21-5 record as of Dec. 12, the 6-foot-3 Curry has averaged 27.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists, while hitting 41.3 percent from beyond the arc and a stunning 93.4 percent at the foul line.

The long-distance shooting touch runs in the Curry family. Father Dell Curry made 1,245 NBA 3-pointers while hitting 40.2 percent.

Steph’s brother, Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry, has 338 career 3-pointers in 338 games, connecting at a resounding 44 percent clip.