Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors hope to repeat history when they take the court for an encore performance Monday night in San Francisco against the rival Sacramento Kings.
Curry bombed in a career-high 62 points Sunday in a 137-122 home win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The 62 points were not only an NBA season-high and eight points more than Curry had ever scored before, but they were the most by a Warrior since Rick Barry went for 64 points in 1974.
Curry topped 50 points for the seventh time in his career, shooting 18-for-31 overall, 8-for-16 on 3-pointers and 18-for-19 at the line.
The eight 3-pointers vaulted Curry, who began the season 4-for-20 in his first two games, into third place among the NBA's leaders in threes this year with 26, trailing Paul George (30) and CJ McCollum (28).
"Just a brilliant performance," Warriors coach Steve Kerr gushed afterward. "We've seen Steph do so many things. It's just a privilege to coach him. It really is. Not just because of his talent, but because of the way he carries himself and the way he leads. We are incredibly blessed as an organisation to have Steph leading the way."
If Curry took time to celebrate any of his previous 50-point performances, it was hard to tell his next time out. He has averaged 30.3 in those games, with the Warriors riding the former two-time Most Valuable Player to wins in each of the last four outings.
The Warriors and Kings will be meeting for the first time this season, with Sacramento having swept last year’s season series 3-0. That came on the heels of a 4-0 whitewashing by Golden State the previous season.
