'Incredible' Curry gets closer to trey record

SAN FRANCISCO • Stephen Curry did not make history on Wednesday night, but he still had the backing of his coach Steve Kerr.

The Golden State star guard scored 22 points, draining six three-pointers to move within 10 of breaking Ray Allen's all-time National Basketball Association (NBA) record of 2,973 in the Warriors' 104-94 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

"To make that many threes in one game obviously has never been done before," Kerr said of the 16 Curry needed coming into the game to top Allen.

"He made six, which is nothing for him. I don't think I ever did that in my entire career one time."

Curry connected on six of his 17 attempts from three-point range, missing his first four attempts from beyond the arc.

His 22 points led the Warriors in their third wire-to-wire victory of the season, but he never looked like producing the historic outburst he would have needed to surpass Allen's mark made from 1996 to 2014.

Curry would have had to break teammate Klay Thompson's single-game record of 14 three-pointers just to match Allen.

Instead he inched closer, taking his tally to 2,964.

He will resume the chase when the Warriors visit the Philadelphia 76ers - the team featuring his younger brother Seth Curry - tomorrow.

"It's incredible," Curry's teammate Draymond Green said of the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player's pursuit of the three-point record, which comes with the Warriors leading the league with a 21-4 tally.

"For me, I'm just trying to screen for him and pass for him, give him as many shot attempts as we can - obviously without hijacking the game trying to do it, trying to get it in the flow."

Golden State led 47-45 at half-time, and Kerr was pleased to see his players grind out a win despite shooting just 39.8 per cent from the floor.

"It's good to be in this position, where we're still winning games if we're not playing our best," said Kerr, whose team moved just half a game in front of the 20-4 Phoenix Suns atop the Western Conference.

Norman Powell scored 26 points to lead the Blazers (11-15), who were without injured star guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups had praise for Curry, telling NBC Sports: "He's one of the most influential players to ever play the game in the way that he's changed how everybody kind of plays the game.

"It's interesting because everybody plays that (same) game, but there's only one Steph Curry."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE