The Whiteboard: Steph Curry just can’t stop making history

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Stephen Curry is no stranger to history-making performances. But now, in his 12th season, he’s reaching the point where it’s no longer about single, outlier games or even outlier seasons. He’s been around long enough that, increasingly, volume and repetition are coming into play. Case-in-point — last night’s 53-point outburst against the Denver Nuggets made him the Warriors’ all-time franchise scoring leader.

He’s roughly a season away from becoming the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made and he already holds a slew of single-season records. And the 10 3-pointers he made on his way to 53 last night gave him 18 career games with double-digit 3-pointers made. Only five other players in NBA history have managed it even twice — Klay Thompson, James Harden, Damian Lillard, J.R. Smith and Zach LaVine — and Curry has done it more than all of them combined.

And in another fun wrinkle, Curry also hit 15-of-16 from the free-throw line in his 53 point game. That was just the sixth game in NBA history where a player made at least 10 3-pointers and 10 free throws. Curry is the only player to have done it twice.

Don’t forget Stephen Curry is just as incredible from the free-throw line

The 3-point shot is the most identifiable piece of Curry’s greatness but his absurd accuracy from the free-throw line is just as unique. He’s led the NBA in free-throw percentage in four different seasons and his 90.7 career mark is the best in league history. And this year, as he and the Warriors navigate life without Klay Thompson and the lingering void left by Durant’s departure, Curry has been self-creating and getting to the line more.

Curry’s free-throw rate this season (0.297) is the second-highest of his career, if you knock out his injury-shortened five-game campaign from last year. And he joins Damian Lillard as the only player in the league this year in the top-15 in both 3-pointers and free-throws made per game. Even this current surge in free-throw attempts for Curry is unlikely to move him into any career leaderboards for volume but it certainly makes it more likely that we could see another unprecedented game with 10 3s and 10 free throws.

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