Warriors’ Curry, sprained thumb and all, drains 8-of-8 3s

SAN FRANCISCO — In an effort to inject some joy and juice into the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry celebrated his first made 3-pointer Thursday night by jumping and pumping his arms in the air as if he had just thrown a touchdown.

When Curry drilled his final triple of the night, he jogged back to the Warriors’ bench, mouth agape and arms swinging up and down early in the fourth. In a stellar shooting career, the Warriors superstar had his most accurate night from behind the arc, going 8-for-8 from 3 and had 30 points, 10 assists and six rebounds to lift the Warriors to a 139-105 blowout win over Philadelphia 76ers at the Chase Center.

Wednesday’s performance marked Curry’s most 3-pointers without a miss in his career and was one shy of matching the NBA record for most 3-pointers without a miss in a game, according to ESPN Research. Curry is also the first player in NBA history to go 8-for-8 from behind the arc and dish out 10 assists in the same game.

“He deserves these nights,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Everything he does for us and endures. It’s so much fun to watch him do this. And our fans and our coaches, we’re all spoiled to watch him play night after night.

“But we have to cherish these nights. He’s not going to be around forever and he’s one of the most beautiful basketball players that ever lived and we’re lucky to see him.”

And Curry did all of this with a sprained right thumb on his shooting hand. Curry was listed as questionable on the injury report, and he said his status was uncertain. He practiced the day before but tried to protect his shooting thumb.

“He barely practiced yesterday,” teammate Draymond Green said. “So walked around and practiced doing everything with his left hand. . . . To see him come out and play the game that he had kind of sums up Steph.”

The Warriors desperately needed this kind of easy win. Before the night, Golden State had lost 13 of 17 games after a 12-3 start.

They came out with their best game since November. Seven Warriors scored in double figures. They made 60.9% from the field, including 22-of-39 from behind the arc. The ball also moved around the court as Golden State had 43 assists on their 53 makes.

The Warriors went on a 22-game streak where they failed to shoot 50% from the field. That’s why Curry said he wanted to celebrate his first 3, which opened the game, to get his teammates going.

“Sometimes when you have a little injury or something that’s random, it forces you to focus a little bit,” Curry said. “And just be free. (I was) just glad i got the game. I was a little unsure going into the day. I didn’t get many attempts in the first half, but they are all four really good shots in the rhythm, and from there you kind of just flow with the joy of things going our way and having a day where Dennis (Schroeder) hit three in the first half, JK (Jonathan Kuminga) come in and hit some big shots, Moses (Moody)everyone just felt the rhythm of the night.”

Curry even got a 3 off the glass and reacted like he couldn’t believe it went in.

His last two 3-pointers came on consecutive shots. The first was a 31-foot pullup and the last of the night was a 28-foot pullup that gave the Warriors a 116-86 lead with 9:12 left.

When Curry was close to the bench, he was enjoying himself, holding his taped right thumb and staring at his hot hand.

There have been too many nights that have ended in frustration over the past month, prompting Curry to assess the Warriors’ play as “middle” following a 113-95 loss at home to Cleveland on Monday. But Golden State (17-16) has won two of its last three games.

“I know what I said last game and I meant it,” Curry said of the team’s average play. “Because you are what your record says you are, and we’ve played below-average basketball for a long time. Obviously, I take responsibility for a lot of that, and at the end of the day, you just want to play free and have fun .

“I celebrated my first 3 and just to try to bring some joy to the game, so we have to try to maintain that even if shots don’t fall in a certain stretch of a game, you just have to stay locked in.”br/ )