James Harden may consider himself one of the most confident players in the NBA, but he does not expect to overhaul Stephen Curry's all-time 3-pointer record after going second in the charts.
Curry made a pair of 3-pointers as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 116-105 on Sunday, finishing with 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.
His first 3-pointer of the evening, made with around six minutes to go in the first quarter, was the 2,794th of his NBA career, the second-most in league history.
Having surpassed Ray Allen's total of 2,973, Harden only trails Curry – who has hit 3,782 3-pointers ahead of his Golden State Warriors facing the Clippers on Monday.
Asked about his feat after Sunday's game, Harden said: "Unbelievable accomplishment. It's just a testament to the amount of work that I've been putting in.
"As I get older and just chip away at an unbelievable career, I start to accomplish things like that. So I don't ever want to take it for granted.
"I just want to give motivation to the youth and every other person that's chasing a dream to play professional basketball or whatever it is, so it's an honour."
But when asked if Curry's mark was now within his sights, Harden – who is just a year younger than the all-time record holder – said nobody will ever take that honour, adding: "I'm one of the most confident guys that we have in this league, but no, I probably won't catch Steph.
"I don't think anybody will honestly. He can shoot the s*** out of the ball. Granted a lot of these guys are on that list for being catch-and-shoot players, so they came off pindowns, they were spot shots or whatnot.
"Now, where the game has evolved, guys like Steph are coming off pindowns, he's creating off isos, he's coming off pick-and-rolls.
"There's so many different variables to be able to shoot the 3, make shots and do it at an efficient high level.
"Somebody has to have an unbelievable career, shoot the ball well and make a lot of 3s. If it happens, it's going to be when we're not here anymore. So that'll be in there for a minute."
Cavs relishing Celtics test after extending perfect start
The Cleveland Cavaliers are relishing the chance to test themselves against the Boston Celtics.
Cleveland extended their perfect record as they became just the fourth team in NBA history to go 15-0 to start a season by beating the Charlotte Hornets 128-114 on Sunday.
The Cavs are tied for the second-best start to a season, trailing only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who went 24-0.
Cleveland, inspired by LeBron James, beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals that year. All three of the previous teams to go 15-0 to start a season have reached a championship series (2015-16 Warriors, 1993-94 Houston Rockets and 1948-49 Washington Capitols).
Next up for the Cavs are the reigning NBA champions, and first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, who rested talisman Donovan Mitchell against the Hornets, cannot wait for the task of facing the Celtics, who beat Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.
"Boston Garden," Atkinson said after becoming the first coach to win his first 15 games in charge of a team. "What's better than that?
"It's great for the NBA, right? Everybody is going to be watching, and I know our guys are anxious. I know they remember last year. We're going well. They're going well. It's great for the league. Great for our franchise. We're excited.
"It's going to be a great test for us. They obviously play a different style, five-out with five shooters, so it's going to be a really good test for us.
"We're at that point right now, 15-0. Let's test ourselves against the best and see where we stand and see where we're going to make adjustments or not make adjustments.
"It actually comes at the perfect time."
Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 15 rebounds against Charlotte, and was one of four Cleveland players to finish with over 20 points, along with Darius Garland (25), Ty Jerome (24) and Evan Mobley (23).
"It's a rematch," said Allen of facing the Celtics, though he missed last season's playoff series due to a rib injury.
"I know they didn't have some players. And we didn't have me, so I want to try and beat them and test where we are with them.
"Everyone is showing tons of energy, all over the city. It's incredible how Cleveland has adopted us. They come to every game, yelling for everything. The city of Cleveland has our backs."
The Celtics, who will visit the White House later this week to celebrate last season's success, have gone 11-3 to start the campaign and are second in the Eastern Conference behind the Cavs.
Cavaliers fourth NBA team to start 15-0
Darius Garland amassed 25 points and a season-high 12 assists, while three other Cleveland players had at least 21 points as the Cavaliers extended their perfect start to the season with Sunday's 128-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Cleveland became the fourth team in NBA history to win its first 15 games in a season despite holding out leading scorer Donovan Mitchell. Ty Jerome started in the five-time All-Star's place and tied a career high with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting while adding eight assists.
The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who opened with 24 consecutive wins, are the only team to start a season 16-0. The Cavaliers will try to become the second when they visit Boston on Tuesday night for a showdown with the defending NBA champion Celtics, a game in which Mitchell is expected to play.
Cleveland also received 23 points and 11 rebounds from Evan Mobley and 21 points and 15 boards from Jarrett Allen while leading the Hornets from nearly start to finish.
LaMelo Bell led Charlotte with 31 points and 12 assists hours after being handed a $100,000 fine from the NBA for using an anti-gay slur during a post-game interview following the team's win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
Mobley had 10 points and both Garland and Jerome dished out five assists as the Cavs built a 38-28 lead after one quarter. Cleveland went into half-time owning a 72-59 advantage, though the Hornets put up 40 points in the third quarter to close within 102-99 entering the fourth.
Garland helped Cleveland pull away in the final period, however, by scoring nine points for the quarter and sparking an 8-0 run that gave the Cavs a 124-109 lead with 1:41 left.
Mavericks overcome Doncic's absence to hold off Thunder
P.J. Washington posted 27 points and a career-high 17 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks withstood the absence of Luka Dončić and held on for a 121-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Despite Doncic missing his first game of the season with a bruised right knee, Dallas handed the Thunder just their third loss in 14 contests behind Washington's big night and a 23-point effort from Kyrie Irving.
The Mavericks also had to overcome a 36-point, eight-assist performance from Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as well as Jalen Williams' 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting.
Reserves Jaden Hardy and Naji Marshall went a combined 10 of 15 from the field while contributing 13 points each to the Mavericks' second straight win following a four-game losing streak.
Behind Washington's 17 points and nine rebounds, Dallas emerged with a 66-58 lead at half-time and later stretched the margin to 14 points when Irving's 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter put the Mavericks up 112-98.
The Mavericks were held without a field goal over the final two minutes, however, as Oklahoma City closed on a 10-2 spurt to nearly prevail.
Gilgeous-Alexander's 3-pointer with 25.2 seconds left closed the gap to 121-118, and he made it a two-point game by hitting a free throw after being fouled with 4.3 seconds remaining. He then deliberately missed the second attempt, which the Thunder rebounded for a chance at the winning shot.
Luguentz Dort's 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, however, as Oklahoma City's three-game winning streak came to an end.
Randle's 35 points, winning shot lift Timberwolves over Thunder
Julius Randle finished a season-high 35-point effort by hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Minnesota Timberwolves a dramatic 120-117 win over the now-slumping Phoenix Suns.
After getting the ball back on a shot-clock violation with 2.7 seconds left, the Timberwolves got the ball to Randle out of a timeout and the veteran forward knocked down a 25-foot shot that lifted Minnesota to a second straight victory following a three-game losing streak.
Phoenix, meanwhile, has lost three in a row and fell to 1-4 since losing former league MVP Kevin Durant to a calf injury. The Suns went 8-1 with Durant available for the season's first nine games.
Playing without sharpshooter Bradley Beal as well, Phoenix had its skid extended despite Devin Booker pouring in a season-high 44 points to go along with seven assists.
Grayson Allen added 18 points off the bench for the Suns and gave Phoenix a 117-115 lead by draining a 3-pointer with 56 seconds remaining.
Minnesota pulled right back even, however, as Anthony Edwards was fouled on the following possession and made both free throws. The Suns then missed three shots in the waning seconds before turning the ball over to set up Randle's winning basket.
Edwards finished with 24 points and six assists while going 9 of 15 from the field.
Phoenix started the game hot, opening up a 29-14 lead over the first 10-plus minutes largely behind Booker's 17 first-quarter points. The Suns held a 13-point advantage deep into the second quarter before Randle's 3-pointer at the buzzer brought Minnesota within 64-54 at the half.
The Timberwolves continued to close the gap in the third, outscoring Phoenix 32-26 for the period and getting 13 points from Edwards to trim the Suns' lead to 90-86 entering the fourth.
Brown: Fox 'did his job' with big points haul against Jazz
Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown says De'Aaron Fox "did his job" as he led them to a 121-117 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Fox had scored 60 points in an overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, but he once again dug deep and spurred his team on with 49 points at the Golden 1 Center.
He now has the most points over a two-game span in franchise history, surpassing DeMarcus Cousins' 104 from 2016.
Meanwhile, Fox is now just the third player ever in the NBA to score at least 109 points over two days, joining Kobe Bryant (2007) and Wilt Chamberlain (17 different times).
The Kings were missing DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk, and Brown is proud of how Fox has stepped up in their absence.
"The back-to-back, the overtime game, him playing 75 minutes [on Friday] ... for him to come with us missing three of our top six guys, that's what says OK, he's De'Aaron Fox, and he did his job," Brown said.
"Nobody can stop him from getting to his spots when he wants to. He's feeling that. Not only is he feeling that, but he's showing that.
"When you have guys of his calibre - and I've been around the Stephs [Curry] and the KDs [Kevin Durant] and the Kobes and the LeBrons [James] and the Tim Duncans ... they get to their spots when they want to.
"The biggest difference between those guys and the other pretty good players is that they do it consistently. So no, I didn't have to say anything to Fox. He knew ... he had to carry us."
Fox went 16-of-30 from the field and made 14-of-19 from the free-throw line, while also adding nine assists and two steals.
The night prior, he went 22-of-35 from the field, making six 3-pointers and 10 free throws.
"I was a little tired coming in [on Saturday], but I feel like when the game started, I was fine," Fox said.
"I'm not going to say I'm not tired ... but I can't say this back-to-back has made me more tired than any other back-to-back."
The Kings extended their record to 8-6 as they bounced back from that defeat, while Utah are bottom of the Western Conference having suffered a ninth loss of the season.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
