J.J. Redick is the NBA’s new 3-point king. Sort of.
Steph Curry failed to splash a 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, ending his record streak of games with at least one from long distance at 157. The two-time MVP went 0 for 10 from deep in a surprising loss to the Lakers.
That made Redick the new leader for longest active 3-point streak at 61 games. Not even 100 more games to go.
Actually, Curry made a 3-pointer in 196 straight games when the playoffs are included. And while it’s been said that all good things come to an end, the best shooter in the world sounded like he had reasonable expectations of keeping his streak alive for years.
“That was a cool little ride,” Curry said. “Would have loved to finish my career making one every game, but hey, start a new one. What was it, like two years? Kind of weird not to make one, but I will keep shooting.”
The last time Curry went splashless was Nov. 11, 2014, when he went 0 for 7 in a loss to the Spurs in San Antonio. His run surpassed Atlanta Hawks forward Kyle Korver’s 127 straight games. The second-longest active streak now belongs to Indiana’s Paul George at just 27 games.
Curry’s first chance to start a new streak comes Monday against the winless New Orleans Pelicans. And you can bet he will make one.
The last time Curry went two straight games without a 3 came Nov. 14-16, 2012, when he went a combined 0 for 8 against Atlanta and Minnesota. It’s only happened three other times in his career, and one was health related.
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THE WEEK AHEAD
Here are some of the games to keep an eye on this week:
- Chicago at Miami, Thursday: Highlight of the week. Dwyane Wade returns to the city he owned for 13 seasons. Should be emotional.
- Hawks at Cavaliers, Tuesday: LeBron James is 6-0 for the first time in his career. Dwight Howard and the Hawks will try to be the first team to beat him this season.
- Jazz at Philadelphia, Monday: The 0-5 76ers get the Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back. First win for Joel Embiid?
- Pelicans at Bucks, Thursday: New Orleans starts the week at 0-6 with a tough back-to-back at Golden State and Sacramento. Maybe Anthony Davis finally gets a W in Milwaukee.
- Lakers at Timberwolves, Sunday: Two of the most promising young cores in the league meet in Minnesota.
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WOLVES WOES
The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the season brimming with confidence and buoyed by being a trendy pick to contend for a Western Conference playoff berth under new coach Tom Thibodeau. They have gotten off to a rocky 1-4 start to the season thanks in large part to horrendous performance in the third quarter.
In their four losses, the Wolves have been outscored 121-61. They gave up a 24-1 run at Sacramento, a 20-2 surge in Oklahoma City and were thumped 33-14 in third period at home against Denver to give away a 15-point lead.
“The third quarters are haunting us,” forward Andrew Wiggins said.
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STAT OF THE WEEK
DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors. The All-Star has been on a tear to open the season, setting a franchise record with five straight 30-point games to start the season. He is the league’s leading scorer, even after that streak ended on Sunday with a 23-point outing against Sacramento. But most unique among DeRozan’s scoring binge? He made just one 3-pointer in eight attempts during those first five games. The throwback scorer has used a killer midrange game and a knack for getting to the free-throw line to average 33.8 points during the 4-1 start.
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