OAKLAND — Stephen Curry fired from 55 feet just before the halftime buzzer. Of course, the shot was good.
In the middle of the Warriors’ 115-94 win against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, Curry offered more evidence of how he has stretched the limits of what is a probable shot for him to make.
His season is as thrilling as it is historic, and it showed even on a night when he scored only 12 points as he banked one in from the backcourt.
“I’ve never seen anybody that accurate from midcourt,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It always looks good.
“It’s just electric when he does it.”
Curry is now shooting 48.1 percent from the field on shots from at least 30 feet this season. On shots from at least 40 feet, Curry is shooting 36.4 percent.
The Warriors needed that momentum-building shot to improve to 57-6 and extend their NBA record to 46 straight regular-season home wins, as it gave the Warriors a 52-41 halftime lead.
The buzzer beater came after Curry grabbed a rebound with 3.8 seconds left, dribbled up the court and launched it. The shot was no prayer.
“That’s not surprising anymore,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said.
“I knew it was going in.”
Curry celebrated by streaking off the court, down the hallway at Oracle Arena and into the locker room. It brought back memories of a Raiders legend.
“That was fantastic,” Kerr said. “It was like when Bo Jackson ran out of the stadium.”
Curry, who wasn’t available for postgame interviews, had gotten off to a slow start. He missed his first five shots from the field, including four 3-point attempts. He still had 10 assists, dazzling with a behind-the-back pass to Green in transition and a lob to Andrew Bogut from near half-court that led to dunks in the first quarter.
But what the fans came to see was Curry heat up and hit three straight 3-pointers in the final 3:12 of the first half.
Curry got fired up in the third quarter while playing defense and being called for a blocking foul. He got up and went after the referee, picking up a technical foul in the process. Kerr said that only inspired his teammates.
The Warriors extended the lead as Marreese Speights hit a 3-pointer to give them a 75-60 advantage. Speights, who finished with a season-high 16 points off the bench, then capped off the quarter by tossing a pass to a Leandro Barbosa for a layup that took only four-tenths of a second.
Speights didn’t plan on throwing the pass to Curry since he figured the Jazz would have him defended even in the backcourt.
Curry extended his single-season record to 304 3-pointers this season and with 19 regular-season games left could very well reach 400.
“It sounds ludicrous, and it sounds far-fetched,” Curry before the game of being on pace for 400. “But I’m going to keep the same focus in how I’ve been playing all year. And if it happens, that’d be amazing. But I’m not going out there chucking just to get to 400. That’s not a focus of mine at all. I’ve just got to continue to just play the way I’ve been playing.”
Klay Thompson scored a game-high 23 points. He also hit five 3-pointers of his own, combining with Curry this season to reach the 500 mark for the second straight season.
Andre Iguodala played 22 minutes, collecting four points and four rebounds in his return to action after having missed three of the past four games with left hamstring tightness.
“We’re so different when we have Andre,” Kerr said.
“He does everything for us. He’s an anchor on defense. He settles us down on offense.”
Green finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, and Barbosa added 13 points off the bench.
For more on the Warriors, see the Inside the Warriors blog at www.ibabuzz.com/warriors. Follow Diamond Leung on Twitter at twitter.com/diamond83.
