Stephen Curry passes Reggie Miller for No. 2 all-time in 3-pointers made
Stephen Curry is now 411 made 3-pointers behind Hall of Famer Ray Allen for the most in NBA history.
With a catch-and-shoot corner 3 in third quarter Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Stephen Curry passed Hall of Famer Reggie Miller for second place on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers made list.
Miller made 2,560 3-pointers over 1,389 regular season games during his 18-year NBA career; Curry passed him in his 715th career game, coming early in his 12th NBA season.
Growing up, Reggie Miller was my favorite player.
With @StephenCurry30 passing @ReggieMillerTNT for 2nd all-time in threes made, take a look at the mutual admiration these two sharpshooters have for each other. pic.twitter.com/whsHdsV0KG
— NBA (@NBA) January 24, 2021
“That’s pretty dope,” Curry said after the game (the Jazz beat the Warriors 127-108). “We got our head beat tonight, but I was trying to still enjoy it. After I made the third one, I knew that was a big one, and then to make that fourth one in the third quarter was pretty special. Something I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time.”
Miller is now behind Curry, with only one player, the legendary shooter Ray Allen, blocking Curry’s path to becoming the 3-point king. Allen, who holds the record with 2,973 career 3-pointers, has a comfortable lead of over 400 3-pointers. While his title seems secure for 2021, it’s inevitable that Curry will eventually surpass him and claim the record.
So many little ones, like mine, find you to be an inspiration.
Our guy @ReggieMillerTNT congratulated Steph after he moved into 2nd place on the all-time 3PM list. pic.twitter.com/tsKYHuMUGa
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 24, 2021
With his current pace of 4.1 3-pointers per game, Curry would require slightly more than 100 games to match Allen’s record. However, with only 57 games left in this truncated 72-game season, it’s probable that Curry won’t be able to contest Allen’s record until the latter half of the 2021-22 season.
The distinguishing factor between Curry, Miller, and Allen is the speed at which Curry has ascended the all-time leaderboard. Miller and Allen incorporated the 3-point shot into their gameplay, but Curry was instrumental in a 3-point revolution owing to his exceptional shooting skills and the growing focus on the 3-point shot. In essence, he transformed the game.
Over the past six seasons, Curry has averaged at least 9.8 3-point attempts per game each year and has three seasons averaging at least 11 3s per game. By comparison, Miller’s career-high in 3-point attempts for a season was 6.6 in 1996-97 (3rd in NBA), while Allen’s was 8.4 in 2005-06 (1st in NBA by 1.6 3PA).
Curry’s ascent is not solely due to an increased number of 3-point attempts. His reputation as arguably the greatest shooter of all time stems from his ability to combine high volume with unprecedented precision. Over his career, Curry has a 43.3% shooting record from distance, compared to Miller’s 39.5% and Allen’s 40.0%.
Curry’s 43.3% career 3-point percentage ranks seventh all-time and leads all players ranked in the top 200 in 3-pointers made. Curry has a strong connection with the top two players on the all-time 3-point percentage list: No. 1 is his head coach Steve Kerr (45.4%) and No. 2 is his younger brother Seth (44.9%), who is shooting a league-best 59.6% this season from 3 for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Curry’s blend of prolific scoring and remarkable precision are the main factors why he required only 715 games to surpass Miller’s career total accumulated over 1,389 games. This combination is also why Curry is projected to be the first player to surpass 3,000 career 3-pointers made, setting a benchmark for all other shooters to pursue.
Which Players Will Eventually Challenge Curry?
If Curry surpasses Allen to set a new record for career 3-pointers, two remaining questions will be: 1. To what level will he raise the bar? 2. Which present players might be able to catch up to him in the future?
Let’s go back to the all-time leaderboard for 3-pointers made, but rather than track totals we’ll look at per game averages instead. The 14 players with the highest 3-pointers made per game are all active players before we get to Allen at No. 15. Let’s take a closer look at the top 10 on that list and see which players may have a shot at catching Curry.
Curry currently maintains a substantial lead and shows no signs of diminishing speed, making it difficult for other established players to catch up with him. Currently, Harden is fifth in all-time rankings and lags behind Curry by nearly 200 3-pointers. Having made 3-pointers at an astounding pace during his last two seasons in Houston (4.8 per game in 2018-19, 4.4 per game in 2019-20), Harden is now adapting to a new role in Brooklyn and has averaged 3.2 3-pointers per game this season.
By eliminating the veterans (Thompson, Lillard, Harden and George) from the list, we can concentrate on the younger players who’ve been shaped by Curry’s game as they were climbing their way to the NBA. Not only have these players been impacted by Curry, but they are also dedicating their entire careers to an NBA that has unprecedentedly endorsed the 3-point shot.
Most 3-pointers made during the first 100 games of a player’s career:
1. Duncan Robinson, 326
2. Luka Doncic, 250Noteworthy mentions (bear in mind, the game has significantly evolved):
11. Klay Thompson, 204
12. Stephen Curry, 200
18. Mike Miller, 190
59. Ray Allen, 145— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) January 19, 2021
Donovan Mitchell surpassed Buddy Hield’s record for the least number of games needed to achieve 600 career 3-pointers just earlier this week. He reached this landmark in 240 games, while Hield took 244. Though not recognized as a 3-point specialist, Mitchell’s speed is quicker than his predecessors, thanks to the growing importance of the 3-point shot in today’s game. This is not unlike how Curry has overtaken Miller and is on track to surpass Allen.
Keep a close watch on the two youngest players in the top 10 list – Trae Young (22) from Atlanta and Luka Doncic (21) from Dallas. Both, currently in their third season, have remarkable 3-point shooting skills. Their young age, coupled with their ability to make 3-pointers frequently, positions them as strong contenders to challenge Curry.
4 More Stats to Know on Curry’s 3-Point Shooting
1. Double-Digit 3-Point Shooting Games
Curry has 15 of the 56 games in NBA history when a player has made at least 10 3-pointers in a game. The next ranked player is his teammate Klay Thompson with five, followed by the trio of Damian Lillard, James Harden and JR Smith with three each and Zach LaVine with two. No other player has more than one game with at least 10 3-pointers made.
Thompson currently holds the record for making the most 3-pointers in a single game (14), closely followed by Curry and LaVine who each made 13 3-pointers. Curry was the pioneer, setting a new record with 13 3-pointers on Nov. 7, 2016 in a victory against the Pelicans, shooting 13-for-17 beyond the arc. Thompson surpassed this record two years later, and LaVine matched Curry’s record in 2019.
2. Playoff 3-Pointers Made
Keep in mind that all of the numbers discussed so far are for regular season games only, and do not count Curry’s record 470 3-pointers made in the NBA Playoffs. Curry racked up his 470 3s over 112 career playoff games (4.2 3PM per game); he is followed by LeBron James, who has 414 3s in 260 career playoff games (1.6 per game).
Reggie Miller, the legend he just surpassed, holds the sixth position in playoff 3s with a record of 320 in 144 games, averaging 2.2 per game. However, he is still pursuing Ray Allen, another legend, who holds the third position in regular season 3s, having scored 385 in 171 games, an average of 2.3 per game.
3. Most 3-Pointers Made in a Season
There have been four seasons in NBA history when a player has made at least 300 3-pointers – Curry accounts for three of the four, with James Harden being the only other member of the club. In 2015-16, Curry not only became the first-and-only unanimous selection for the Kia Most Valuable Player award, he also set the record for 3-pointers made in a season as he shot 402-for-886 (45.4%) from beyond the arc over 79 games.
In the 2018-19 season, Harden secured the second rank with 378 3-pointers, while Curry made 354 3-pointers, marking the third-highest number of 3-pointers in a season. In the 2016-17 season, Curry made 324 3-pointers. Curry has three of the top four seasons in terms of total 3-pointers made, and holds six positions out of the top 20 on the list. Harden has four places in the top 20. Buddy Hield and Klay Thompson are the only other players who have more than one spot in the top 20.
4. Most Consecutive Games With a 3-Pointer
Curry holds the record with 157 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer made, a streak that spanned three seasons from Nov. 13, 2014 to Nov. 3, 2016. Kyle Korver is the only other player to reach 100 straight games with a 3-pointer at 127 games.
Curry does not have the longest active streak in the league, that belongs to Sacramento’s Buddy Hield at 82 straight games, followed by Curry and Brooklyn’s Joe Harris each with 77 consecutive games. Toronto’s Fred VanVleet and Brooklyn’s James Harden are the only other players with an active streak of at least 40 games.
Curry’s Milestone 3-Pointers on Climb to No. 2
Curry started his quest to the No. 2 position in career 3-pointers made in 2009, when he was the No. 7 overall pick from Davidson College. We can review the significant milestones he reached on his ascent through the ranks.
1 – Oct. 30, 2009: After missing his only 3-point attempt in his NBA debut, Curry shot 2-for-3 from beyond the arc in his second career game, a 123-101 loss to Phoenix.
100 – Feb. 27, 2010: Curry’s 100th 3-pointer came in his 58th career game as he shot 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with a game-high 27 points in a 95-88 win over Detroit.
500 – Jan. 26, 2013: Curry reached 500 career 3-pointers in his 221st career game with No. 500 coming on a night when he scored 26 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point land in a 109-102 loss to Milwaukee.
1,000 – Jan. 7, 2015: Curry became the fastest player to ever reach 1,000 3-pointers made as he reached the century mark in just his 369th career game. He reached the milestone during a 117-102 win over Indiana when he shot 4-for-8 from deep and finished with 21 points.
1,500 – March 11, 2016: The theme of Curry being the fastest to reach a 3-point milestone continued as he hit the 1,500 mark, this time shattering the previous record held by Ray Allen. Curry needed only 477 games to reach 1,500 3-pointers made, while Allen needed 661 games.
Enters Top 10 – March 5, 2017: Curry entered the top 10 on the all-time 3-pointers made list at Madison Square Garden in New York – the same arena where he set his career-best scoring mark of 54 points four years prior (he topped that mark with a 62-point game earlier this season). Curry scored 31 points and shot 5-for-13 on 3s in a 112-105 win, ending the night with 1,833 career 3-pointers, passing Chauncey Billups (1,830) to crack the top 10.
2,000 – Dec. 4, 2017: Curry became the eighth player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career 3-pointers and did so faster than any other player, needing only 597 games to hit the milestone. Curry scored 31 points and shot 5-for-11 on 3s in Golden State’s 125-115 win, but the achievement was marred by a sprained ankle late in the game that would cost Curry nearly four weeks of action.
Enters Top 5 – Oct. 24, 2018: Curry entered the top five on the all-time 3-point list in style as he scored 51 points and made 11 3s during Golden State’s 144-122 win over Washington. With his third 3-pointer of the night, Curry (2,162) passed Jamal Crawford (2,153) for fifth place in career 3s made.
2,500 – Dec 27, 2020: In the third game of the 2020-21 season, Curry became the third player in NBA history to reach the 2,500 career 3-pointers made milestone, joining Reggie Miller and Ray Allen. Curry scored 36 points and shot 5-for-15 from deep to help the Warriors earn their first win of the season.
