Warriors superstar Curry reaches 20,000 career points milestone in NBA

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, who is also a three-time NBA champion, has reached at least 20,000 career points in his 13-season-NBA career on Thursday.

Curry -- a Warriors point guard since 2009 -- reached the milestone after scoring a deep three-pointer in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets, which resulted in a Warriors win with 113-102 at Denver's Ball Arena.

He is regarded as one of the greatest shooters in the league.

The 33-year-old, who scored 20,006 points in 823 games, is now in the 49th spot of the NBA's all-time leaders in points.

The list is led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the 74-year-old -- a former Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers center -- tallied 38,387 points in 1,560 NBA games.

On Thursday, the Nuggets were leading the game 72-58 in the third quarter, which was the biggest margin for the home team. But the Warriors erased it and took the lead near the end of the quarter.

Golden State's Jonathan Kuminga tipped the ball after Curry missed a driving layup with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give his team an 85-83 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the game was tied 102-102 with two minutes and 39 seconds remaining when Curry scored a layup.

Curry made another layup to give a 104-102 lead to Golden State with nearly two minutes left. Then the visitors controlled the game to bag a 113-102 victory.

The US superstar, Curry scored 34 points and took nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets' Serbian star Nikola Jokic tallied 23 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists.
Now in the third spot in the Western Conference standings, the Warriors won 45 games but lost 22 others.

The Nuggets -- another team from West -- have a 40-27 win/loss record to come sixth in the standings.

The top six teams of both conferences will directly qualify for the 2022 playoffs, where they will be joined by two each from both sides after a play-in tournament for those finishing seventh through 10th in the regular season.

The playoffs are scheduled to start on April 16 with 16 teams in the running for the 2021-22 NBA title.

- Harden in 3rd spot on all-time 3-pointer list

Thursday evening also saw another historic case as Philadelphia 76ers' superstar James Harden scored 2,563 three-pointers to reach the third spot on the league's career three-pointers list.

So former Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Harden, 32, surpassed ex-Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller after hitting a three-pointer against his former team Nets in a Thursday game, which was his 2,561st three-pointer.

Then in the same game, Harden hit a couple of three-pointers more to reach 2,563.

Miller, 56, who played for the Pacers in 1987-2005, made 2,560 three-pointers in his career. He quit the game in 2005.

Former Boston Celtics and Miami Heat shooting guard Allen made 2,973 three-pointers in 1,300 games. The 2008 and 2013 NBA champion, Allen, 46, officially retired in 2016.

Allen is now in second place on the NBA's all-time three-pointers list.

Golden State's playmaker Stephen Curry is the NBA's all-time record holder for three-pointers as he is leading with 3,107.

Meanwhile, the 76ers lost to the Brooklyn Nets 129-100 at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Kevin Durant led the Nets to the away win, scoring 25 points. He also grabbed 14 rebounds and made seven assists.

Sixers' center Joel Embiid was the game's highest scorer with 27 points.

Embiid also took 12 rebounds.

Brooklyn's Seth Curry scored 24 points, and his teammate Kyrie Irving added 22 points for the visitors.

In the Sixers', Tobias Harris had 16 points, and Harden racked up 11 points.

The Nets are going 34-33 to be in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Sixers ranked third in the East standings, having a 40-25 win/loss record this season.

- Results:

Philadelphia 76ers - Brooklyn Nets: 100-129

Denver Nuggets - Golden State Warriors: 102-113