Stephen Curry went off for a season-high 56 points in a 121-115 win against the Orlando Magic Thursday night, but it shouldn’t have come as a surprise if you checked the date.
Feb. 27 is a significant day for the Golden State Warriors star. Curry has scored at least 45 points on this date three times, making him the third player in NBA history to do so on a single calendar day, according to ESPN Research.
The other two players are Elgin Baylor (Feb. 25) and Wilt Chamberlain, who had at least three 45-point games on 16 different calendar days.
The first of the three special games for Curry on this date came in 2013, when he recorded 54 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. It marked the first 50-point game of Curry’s career.
“I felt good all night. Obviously played the whole game, so was just trying to keep my legs underneath me on the offensive end, and you know, just stick to the game on the defensive end,” Curry said at the time. “Once I started seeing that 3-ball go down in transition, all sorts of spots on the floor, I knew it was going to be a good night.”
The second game featured arguably the most famous shot of Curry’s career: a go-ahead 37-foot 3-pointer against the Oklahoma City Thunder with 0.6 seconds left in overtime. The Warriors celebrated that anniversary with a post earlier on Thursday.
The deep 3 capped off a 46-point outing with 12 3-pointers in the midst of Golden State’s 73-9 season in 2015-16.
Curry matched that effort in terms of 3-point field goals made as he netted 12 against the Magic, the most by any player in a game this season. It also marked his third career game with 12 3-pointers, tied with former teammate Klay Thompson for the most of all time.
The Warriors play the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC).