Now in his 16th season in the NBA, Stephen Curry has been one of the most influential players in league history. He is the face of the game’s three-point revolution and is making his record number of made shots from beyond the arc more unbreakable by the game. Not just that, but he has also won four championships in his career and is currently gunning for his fifth. In Saturday’s game, Stephen Curry found his way into the top 10 of career playoff points.
Stephen Curry Is Now A Top 10 Scorer In NBA Playoffs History
Stephen Curry Moves Past Tony Parker In Career Playoff Points
Despite being shorthanded as Jimmy Butler was sidelined, the Golden State Warriors took a 2-1 series lead over the Houston Rockets on Saturday with their 104-93 victory. Remarkably, just two of the Warriors starters reached double figures in scoring. One of them was the 37-year-old Curry who once again showcased his scoring prowess even at his advanced age.
In Game 3, Curry finished the outing with 36 points (as well as seven rebounds and nine assists). He went 12-23 from the field, 5-12 from three-point range, and 7-8 from the foul line. It was the 60th time in his legendary career that he has scored at least 30 points in a postseason affair.
The two-time scoring champ has now participated in 150 postseason games in his career. In those, he has averaged 27.0 points for a total of 4,053 in his playoff career. That total allowed him to surpass Tony Parker and move into 10th place on the all-time NBA playoff scoring list.
Much like Curry, Parker won four championships in his career (his coming with the San Antonio Spurs). The 2007 Finals MVP averaged 17.9 points in his 226 playoff games, giving him a total of 4.045.
Won’t Pass The All-Time Leader
Even if the Warriors make a lengthy run in the playoffs, it is unlikely that Curry moves up any further this year on the all-time playoff scoring list. The man above him on the list is Jerry West. Mr. Clutch scored 4,457 points during his postseason career which is 404 more than Curry currently has. It would take a lot of seven-game series and a lengthy Golden State postseason run for the 2022 Finals MVP to surpass West.
It’s crazy to think that despite being 10th on the all-time list, Curry doesn’t even have half of the career total of the all-time leader. That would of course be LeBron James, who is still active, and is still adding to that total with his Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs. Also a four-time champion, James has totaled 8,240 in postseason games.
While Curry won’t pass James, he does hold the record for most threes made in the playoffs. He has connected on 632 in the postseason, well ahead of his former longtime teammate Klay Thompson, who is second with 501. Meanwhile, Curry will attempt to get his Warriors closer to advancing to the second round. They next play on Monday night at home where a win would give them a 3-1 series lead and place them one victory from moving on to the next round.
Photo credit: © Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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