Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 41 points in the final seven minutes of Saturday night's 126-119 overtime win over the Orlando Magic, setting another late-career NBA record at Chase Center.
This is Curry's second 40-point game in the season's first month, 77th of his 18-year career and -- perhaps most impressively -- the 16th 40-point game since his 35th birthday, surpassing LeBron James (15) and Michael Jordan (12) for most all time.
"It makes me super proud of the work that's gone in, especially with some injuries and all that," Curry said. "But just the idea I could still get to a certain level you kind of feed off of that. Especially when it's in a winning fashion like tonight, where we needed all of them. I appreciate the longevity."
It's a level of longevity that Warriors coach Steve Kerr called "remarkable."
"Work ethic," Kerr said. "Good genes. He's been blessed with a body that's held up. But he's earned that through his strength training, conditioning and fitness level."
The Warriors needed every bit of Curry's greatness against a desperate 2-7 Magic team. Orlando flipped a 16-point first-half deficit into a six-point fourth quarter lead, forcing Curry to make an array of shots down the stretch to force overtime.
Curry had 12 points in the final 2:21 of regulation, making two deep 3s, a layup, two free throws and a difficult runner with 25 seconds left to put the Warriors up two.
"That was an impossible shot," Kerr said. "So much traffic. That was a 12-foot sort of running, float, hook, whatever you call it. To put that off the glass, he's one of one. I don't know if anyone else in the world can make that shot."
Jamal Cain tipped in a layup for the Magic with two seconds left to force overtime. Kerr, protecting Curry's minutes at this late stage of his career, put his star on the bench to begin overtime, temporarily cooling him while trusting his team's depth.
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg (23 points) and Golden State's reserves continued to deliver early in the season. Backup center Charles Bassey scored the first four points of overtime and Lendeborg hit a wing 3 to put the Warriors up five.
Kerr then went back to Curry to close it, stretching him to a season high. He added two floaters and a free throw in overtime to stretch his point total to 41 for the night and deliver the Warriors a seventh straight win, continuing their rise back into the conversation.
The Warriors became only the second team (joining the 1950-51 Boston Celtics) to immediately follow an 0-3 start to the season with a seven-game win streak.