Stephen Curry will almost assuredly become the sole leader in career 3-pointers tonight at Madison Square Garden.
He needs just one more to tie the record Ray Allen set over his 18-year, Hall of Fame career. Two, of course, breaks the record at 2,974.
For reference, DraftKings is the only major book that is releasing odds for whether Curry will break the 3-point record tonight. The line is listed at -5000. Their odds are also -500 that he does it in the first half and -110 that he nails two 3s by the end of the first quarter.
For additional reference, Curry has only made fewer than two 3-pointers in a game once this season out of 26 games. That implies the odds of it happening are around +2500 — and that's without considering the fact that Curry's teammates will be feeding him tonight more than usual. The record will fall at the Garden, barring injury.
PointsBet was the only other sportsbook to host odds on this record. They took down their line shortly after posting it last week.
But they kept it up for about 48 hours — before, and in the slight aftermath of, the Warriors' game against the Trail Blazers, when the two-time MVP needed 16 3-pointers to beat the record.
That, weirdly enough, was the most-bet game for Curry to beat the record, said Mike Korn, a sports analyst at PointsBet. The odds of Curry hitting 16 3s that Wednesday night — an NBA record — was set at +20000.
But heavy action, thanks in large part to the efforts of my colleague Brandon Anderson, drove that line all the way down to +3000.
The second-most bet game for Curry to set the record was this Knicks game at +170. Whoever locked in that wager last week is cashing it in, no doubt.
The third-most bet game was against the 76ers on Saturday, when Steph needed 11 to beat the record.
That line opened at +380 but nosedived to +170 in the lead-up to the Blazers game. The line was promptly taken down.
Curry went just 3-for-14 from behind the arc in a 102-93 loss.
The only unanimous MVP could have broken the record Monday night against the Pacers, but missed 10 3s, many of which were good looks. One notable one in the waning seconds saw Curry open with a chance to tie the record.
It clanged off the rim, but Kevon Looney snatched the offensive board and made the put back in what was the game-winning basket in a 102-100 win.
So now, Curry gets the chance to add another iconic highlight to his reel at basketball's most revered venue. Not too bad of a consolation prize.
"It's the mecca," Kerr told reporters on Monday. "It's the best atmosphere in the league. It's going to be electric. I can't wait — it'll be fun … every player loves New York. Every player in the league loves playing in the Garden. It's just a special venue — so hopefully he can get it done [on Tuesday.]"
