Steph Curry Breaks Another Michael Jordan Record vs. Trail Blazers

Stephen Curry scored 48 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, setting another record in the process.

Curry passed Michael Jordan for the most 40-point games after turning 30 years old. Curry now has 45 such games since his 30th birthday.

Here is the the leaderboard for 40-point games after turning 30 years old:

1. Stephen Curry: 45
2. Michael Jordan: 44
3. Damian Lillard: 31
T4. Kobe Bryant: 30
T4. James Harden: 30
6. Larry Bird: 27
T7. LeBron James: 25
T7. Alex English: 25
9. Rick Barry: 24
T10. Kevin Durant: 21
T10. Hakeem Olajuwon: 21

It was also Curry's 75th career 40-point game. He's ninth all-time in that stat. Here is the leaderboard for career 40-point games:

1. Wilt Chamberlain: 271
2. Michael Jordan: 173
3. Kobe Bryant: 122
4. James Harden: 107
5. Elgin Baylor: 88
T6. LeBron James: 79
T6. Allen Iverson: 79
8. Oscar Robertson: 77
9. Stephen Curry: 75
10. Kevin Durant: 72

Curry's Scoring Barrages Somehow Happening More Often

Curry topped 40 points for the fourth time in 18 games Sunday. That means he's hitting that threshold once every 4.5 games this season.

Last year, he had just three 40-point games in 70 appearances.

Two years ago, he had six 40-point games in 74 appearances.

The last time Curry was scoring like he is now was in the 2020-21 season. He had 11 40-point games in 63 appearances. Of course, that year he led the league with 32.0 points per game and finished third in MVP voting. He started that season at 32 years old. He's 37 now.

Can He Keep This Up?

LeBron James averaged 30.3 points in his age-37 season and 28.9 points in his age-38 season.

So with that context, Curry averaging 29.6 points per game is precedented.

But the main difference is that James is a 6'9" once-in-a-generation athlete who often uses his size to score without expending too much energy.

Curry does not have that luxury as a 6'2" guard.

To answer the subhead question, I'm not doubting that Curry can keep this up. It doesn't make sense that he's even doing it at all, but he's showing no signs of slowing down, so maybe he can stay in this late-career prime for another season or two.

Unfortunately for Curry, the Warriors are just 3-5 when Curry scores at least 34 points this season. Golden State desperately needs his scoring, and yet it's currently not good enough.

So in that sense, the Warriors are a lot like that 2020-21 team that missed the playoffs entirely. They are just 13-14 this season and not trending in the right direction.