Warriors Considering Resting Curry Against Pacers

As Stephen Curry approaches the all-time regular season record for three-pointers made to officially claim his crown as the game’s top shooter, the Warriors could be looking to make it a night for the books - and a storyline to remember.

NBA writer Marc Stein reported today that the Warriors are “weighing a night of rest for Stephen Curry in Indiana”, as he stands about 10 threes away from clearing Ray Allen’s record for total regular season threes. This news comes on the heels of Curry putting up 6 triples against the Blazers earlier this week.

Indiana was seen as one of the most-likely places Curry would break the record at according to oddsmakers, but it does make sense why the Warriors are considering resting him for reasons other than narratives. Indiana is on the front end of a back-to-back on the road, as the Warriors play the Knicks the very next day. The Pacers also seem to be in fire-sale mode, making it clear that some of their key players (Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, and Caris LeVert) are all for sale as they look towards a rebuild.

The Pacers don’t exactly provide Golden State with some excellent competition, so the team can afford to rest Curry on the front end of a back-to-back with it making sense. Of course, the Knicks aren’t the world’s most stellar team either, but it’s much better of a storyline: Madison Square Garden has been historically referred to as the “Basketball Mecca”, an NBA representation of New York City’s hoop culture that’s influenced the entire world.

There’s also a personal stake for Steph to break this record in MSG, as a sort of full-circle. In 2013, he set a then-career high 54 points and torched the Knicks for a then-franchise record 11 threes, a top three scoring performance only overshadowed by Jordan and Kobe at the Garden since its reopening in 1968. It was what many people consider to be the night he put the league on notice as the NBA’s next great.

While many Warriors fans would probably like to see him break it tomorrow against his little brother Seth and the Sixers tomorrow, the likelihood of making 10 threes in a game isn’t high. Even for someone as proficient as Steph, who’s done it more than anybody else in NBA history by a pretty significant margin, the circumstances would have to be just right. A lot of Warriors pundits may also want Steph to just get it over with already so his numbers aren’t affected by chasing history, assuming that can be cited as a reason for some recent struggles.

In all likelihood, we will see a decision for resting Steph against Indiana after tomorrow’s game when it’s been determined how many more threes (if any) he has left to make. The rumor reported by Stein is probably situational conjecture around the organization based on his performance in Philly, as they’ll likely rest him on one of the nights anyway: They just need him against the Knicks more than they do the Pacers.

Whatever the case, the seeming inevitability of Stephen Curry setting as many three-point records in the books as he can at this stage in his career while still playing under 800 games total seems to finally be at its final moments. Curry is already the all-time leader for both playoffs and regular season combined, but his official coronation will likely be at Madison Square Garden if he doesn’t get it against his brother tomorrow. You can’t really write a more perfect story.

(Photo credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)