Steph Curry was cooking on Thursday night as ‘The Chef’ knocked down 12 3-pointers and scored a season-high 56 points. He willed the Golden State Warriors back from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat the Orlando Magic 121-115.
Curry scored just five points in the first quarter, including a right-wing 3, before erupting for 11 more 3s across the second, third and fourth quarters.
He hit a step-back from the left-wing to bring the Warriors within 73-72 and added two free throws on the next possession to give them a lead, which they relinquished just once the rest of the way.
Before Thursday, Curry’s season-high was 38 points. His 56-point performance ties him with LeBron James for the second-most of any player 36 or older, behind Kobe Bryant’s 60-point farewell game against the Utah Jazz.
Curry had 22 points in the third quarter, in which Golden State turned a 14-point deficit into a five-point lead. Orlando managed 21 points in the period.
Quinten Post came off the Golden State bench with 18 points and five rebounds, including 10 straight Warrior points in the second period. Draymond Green had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Curry was 12 for 19 behind the arc in his NBA-record 26th career game with 10 or more 3-pointers. He was 16 of 25 overall and made all 12 of his free throws in Golden State’s fifth straight victory. Curry’s career scoring high is 62 points, set on Jan. 3, 2021, against Portland. His career high for 3-pointers in a game is 13.
It was the Warriors’ seventh win in eight games since acquiring Jimmy Butler in a trade on Feb. 6. Butler had five points on 1-of-7 shooting with seven assists in 32 minutes.
Eighteen Magic turnovers, many of them unforced, kept the Warriors in the game in the first half despite 64% Orlando shooting. It was the Magic’s 14th loss in 20 games.
Paolo Banchero scored 41 points for the Magic and Franz Wagner added 27.
The Warriors visit Philadelphia on Saturday. Orlando hosts Toronto on Sunday.
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