INTERNATIONAL: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry set the NBA's all-time three-point record at New York's Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, making his 2,974th long-range shot in the first quarter to surpass Hall of Famer Ray Allen. Curry, a three-time National Basketball Association champion and two-time league MVP, pounded his chest and let out a roar after hitting the 28-foot shot. He was immediately embraced by his team mates, coaches, father and former NBA player Dell Curry, and Allen.
Curry says, "It was a beautiful… I'll call it, ending to this last week and the build up to getting this number and there's a special atmosphere. I knew the Garden (Madison Square Garden) would deliver in terms of just how iconic this place is, but I really, I can't say it enough, I appreciate so much the way the fans embraced the moment with me and let me just kind of get lost in it and I could feel once I let, you know, took the shot on the wing and it felt good, look good in the wing it felt like we were at home. And I didn't really realise that we were going to foul and that there was going to be a timeout and all that. It was just a special moment for sure and I appreciate and I'll remember for the rest of my life in terms of what it means to me to pass Ray (Allen) and Reggie (Miller) and guys I've looked up to coming into the game. So, definitely special."
Curry entered Tuesday's contest just two three-pointers shy of Allen's regular-season record and the sold-out crowd remained on its feet throughout the early part of the game in anticipation of the record being broken. Miller, who was calling the game on TNT's national broadcast, is third on the list with 2,560 three-pointers. Curry ended the game with five three-pointers, taking his career total to 2,977, as the Warriors rode a late surge to beat the Knicks 105-96.
GSW Head Coach Steve Kerr says, "It was… it's an incredible shot. You know. it was kind of a fadeaway high-arching three. So, the degree of difficulty was there and the crowd was anticipating it and then the aftermath was more emotional than I expected it to be, you know, it was just an outpouring of love and support for Steph (Curry) from seemingly everybody in the building. So, beautiful, beautiful moment."
The 33-year-old Curry, who is playing in his 13th season, is widely considered the greatest shooter in the history of the league, a description he is now comfortable with.
PHOTO: STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS GUARD, STEPHEN CURRY, SOUNDBITES FROM STEPHEN CURRY AND GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS HEAD COACH, STEVE KERR