Warriors’ Steph Curry continues march up NBA’s all-time scoring list

MINNEAPOLIS – Almost nothing felt normal inside – or outside – Target Center in downtown Minneapolis when the Warriors faced the Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon for the first game of a back-to-back set.

The schedule itself had been changed, with the game moved back 24 hours after a federal immigration agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, causing both anguish in the city and concern in the Timberwolves organization over possible security concerns. 

On the day of the game, what Warriors coach Steve Kerr described as a “somber” mood enveloped the 111-85 Golden State win.  

Whether it be the moment of silence that was interrupted by calls for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave the city, or the noticeable pall that hung over the crowd, or the thousands of protesters who gathered outside in temperatures barely above zero, the events at Target Center were anything but ordinary. 

That is, everything other than Steph Curry’s chart-climbing shot-making. 

In his first game back in Minnesota since a hamstring injury took him out of the Warriors’ playoff series against the Wolves last spring, Golden State’s lead guard provided a glimpse of what could have been by scoring 26 points. 

“Really, the difference was that Steph was healthy,” Moses Moody said. “Right now we’re just playing hard and figuring everything out. We’re adjusting and it’s different, but stuff usually goes your way when you leave it all out there on the floor.”

Curry is less than two months away from his 38th birthday, but the 12-time All-Star is still arguably the league’s most threatening scorer despite dealing with a sore right knee.

Curry jetted past John Havlicek on the NBA’s all-time scoring list and moved into a tie with another Celtic great, Paul Pierce, for 19th place (26,397 points).

He is now just 49 points away from passing Spurs icon Tim Duncan, another one-franchise legend whom Warriors coach Steve Kerr has often compared with Curry.

With Jimmy Butler now lost for the season after tearing his ACL a week ago, the Warriors went with the tried and true template of “lean on Steph” to power the team to victory Sunday, their first since Butler went down. 

But after the 26-point rout, Curry cautioned against taking any meaningful conclusions from a win in which it was obvious the Wolves’ attention was elsewhere.

“It’s different without Jimmy,” Curry said. “We’re not going to get lulled into thinking tonight is who they are. (They went to the) Western Conference finals two years in a row, with pretty much the entire same team coming back.”

But against a West contender, it was a step in the right direction for a squad that is now missing both Butler and Jonathan Kuminga (knee bruise) on the wing.

Though neither De’Anthony Melton nor Al Horford will play the second leg of the back-to-back, the Warriors may have already proven a point after just the first game. 

“We’ve got to understand who they are, and who we’re trying to be,” Curry said.