Stephen Curry scores 41 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Orlando Magic 126-119 in overtime on Saturday night at Chase Center, passing LeBron James for the most 40-point games by a player aged 35 or older in NBA regular-season history.
It was Curry’s 16th 40-point game since turning 35, breaking the tie with James, who had 15. Michael Jordan is next on the list with 12, according to the Associated Press. The win was Golden State’s seventh in a row, completing a climb back from an 0-3 start to the season.
Stephen Curry 41 points: how the record night unfolded
Golden State led 57-41 at halftime and looked in control. Orlando answered with a 37-point third quarter, took a 78-77 lead into the fourth, and refused to go away. Jamal Cain’s tip-in with 1.5 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 110 and sent it to overtime — the 12th tie of the final period.
Orlando struck first in the extra period. Tristan da Silva’s three-pointer, the Magic’s 18th of the night, put the visitors up 118-117 with 2:24 left. Then Curry took the game over.
His three-point play with 1:38 left put Golden State ahead for good. Wendell Carter Jr. then missed two free throws with just over a minute left that would have tied it, and Curry followed with a driving layup 44 seconds later that gave him 41 points and a 122-118 lead. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg capped the win with a dunk and two free throws for the seven-point margin.
Curry scored 19 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. He finished 13 of 19 from the field, 5 of 10 from three-point range and a perfect 10 of 10 at the free-throw line, adding six rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes. It was his second 40-point game of the season, and he has now scored 29 or more in five straight games.
“It makes me super proud of the work that’s gone in, especially with some injuries and all that,” Curry said afterward, according to ESPN.
The supporting cast and a short-handed Magic side
Lendeborg was the night’s other big story for Golden State, finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Brandin Podziemski added 15 points and Georges Niang 11, while Draymond Green had a game-high 13 assists with six rebounds and just two points.
The Warriors won despite losing the battle on the glass badly — Orlando grabbed 24 offensive rebounds to Golden State’s three — and despite being outscored 26-10 off turnovers.
Orlando’s effort deserved better than the result. Franz Wagner led the Magic with 30 points and 11 assists, Carter had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and da Silva scored 19. Cain added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Anthony Black scored 18.
The Magic played without four rotation players: Desmond Bane was out with an illness, Paolo Banchero with a sprained right ankle, Jonathan Isaac with left knee management and Jalen Suggs with a bruised right knee. The loss was Orlando’s fourth in a row.
Analysis: the record, and what it says about Curry at 38
The number that matters is 16. Curry has now produced 40 points in a game 16 times since turning 35 — more than any player in league history at that age. James held the mark at 15, and Jordan sits third with 12. The record is a regular-season one, and it fits the shape of Curry’s late career: he is not fading into a supporting role, he is still the player Golden State turns to when a game is slipping away.
This was also a reminder of how thin the margin is. Golden State led by 16 at halftime and still needed overtime against a team missing four players. The Warriors’ defense gave up 37 points in one quarter and 18 three-pointers in the game.
The winning streak is real — seven straight, 7-3 after the 0-3 start — but so is the reliance on Curry to close games. He delivered again on Saturday, one night after Luka Doncic scored 53 points for the Lakers on Friday night, in a weekend where the league’s biggest stars took turns carrying their teams.
The record also lands the week after LeBron James’ return to Cleveland, where the Cavaliers held him to eight points in a 119-95 win. James’ name keeps appearing in Curry’s story, and on Saturday night Curry took one of his records for himself.
Around the NBA: Wembanyama, Spurs win eighth straight
Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points in just 24 minutes as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 125-103 on Saturday night for their eighth consecutive victory. Wembanyama shot 9 of 13 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range, grabbed seven rebounds, and sat out the fourth quarter along with the rest of San Antonio’s starters. The Spurs led by as many as 35 points and never trailed, improving to 8-2.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers 114-102 in Mexico City behind Nikola Jokic’s 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Pascal Siakam scored 23 points in his 700th NBA game and passed 13,000 for his career.
The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-97 as Jalen Brunson scored 31 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 points and 13 rebounds, while Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 37 in defeat. The Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Washington Wizards 114-75 behind 30 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Atlanta Hawks edged the Brooklyn Nets 124-121 as Jalen Johnson scored 30 in his return from injury, and the Phoenix Suns held off the Houston Rockets 102-99 behind 24 points from Devin Booker.
What is next
Golden State takes its seven-game winning streak into the week with the best form it has shown all season, and Curry has now scored at least 29 points in five straight games. Orlando, still short-handed, will try to stop a four-game slide in its next outing. The question for the rest of the league is the same one it has been all month: if Curry is playing like this in November, what does the rest of the season look like?
Sources: Associated Press (via Sportstar/The Hindu); Reuters (Field Level Media); Bleacher Report; USA Today (Warriors Wire).
