


SAN FRANCISCO >> Like 3-pointers, records come in bunches for Steph Curry.
Curry eclipsed 25,000 career points over the weekend and is now just two 3s away from another hallowed benchmark: 4,000 made 3s.
He made 5-of-11 attempts from 3 on Monday night in the Warriors’ 130-120 win over the Trail Blazers, their fifth in a row.
Before Curry changed the game, no one had ever reached 3,000 triples in a career. Now, plenty of players launch from Curry range and five teams, including the Warriors, are taking 40 or more attempts per game this season.
Last time Curry neared a 3-point milestone, in December of 2021, he admitted to psyching himself up. He was approaching Ray Allen’s record of 2,973 but labored to get there. He went through a mini-slump, shooting 34% from deep in the five games before setting the record in front of Allen at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14, 2021.
Curry doesn’t have that same issue this time around.
Since Feb. 5, Curry is averaging 30.5 points per game, second behind only MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He has hit 40.5% of his 3s in that span and just ripped off an epic road trip that included a season-high 56-point burst in Orlando.
“Steph is something like we’ve never seen,” Portland head coach Chauncey Billups said before Monday’s game.
Curry’s 24 points in Monday’s win over Portland at Chase Center didn’t lead Golden State — Gary Payton II set a new career high with 26 points, including 4-of-6 on 3s, and Buddy Hield made six of his nine attempts from 3.
But Curry made a trio of 3-pointers in a key stretch of less than three minutes midway through the third quarter, expanding the Warriors’ lead from six points to 12. The first came in transition from the left wing, the second from the same spot and the third was from the right side as Curry twisted in the air to get the shot off over a pair of defenders, falling to the ground as it went through the net.
Excellent performances have been coming more often recently for Curry. Nothing he does should be surprising anymore.
“I am desensitized to the 3s because they just come flooding through game after game,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Four thousand is just an insane number. But it just feels kind of natural.”
Kuminga set to return Thursday >> After missing over two months with a severely sprained ankle, Jonathan Kuminga is expected to return to the court on Thursday against Sacramento, Kerr confirmed on his 95.7 The Game radio hit.
“Assuming he doesn’t have any setbacks in the next couple of days, he should be back,” Kerr said.
The news was first reported by The Athletic.
Kuminga, 22, is averaging a career-high 16.8 points and five rebounds per game this season. He suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain on Jan. 4 and has the missed 31 consecutive games since.
They plan to bring Kuminga off the bench and ease him into a rotation now humming with Jimmy Butler -- they’re 12-1 when Butler plays.
Kerr has said that Butler is “the perfect guy for JK to emulate” because of his decision-making chops and ability to draw fouls.
“I think it’s going to be easy,” Butler said. “Hella athletic. Can shoot it, can score in a multitude in a multiple ways. And can guard. Can definitely guard. So I think he’s going to come back and do what he’s doing. My job is to just make it easier on him. So, come on back and help us get some dubs.”