Steph lets his shots do the talking

Steph Curry was missing. Not with his shots. From the scene.

This was on Wednesday night, and as we all know — especially the guys at ESPN, who control our sports perceptions — only two people count in the NBA: Steph and that LeBron James guy.

LeBron, after helping the Lakers beat the Celtics, stood at a microphone and said, “I just like the way we competed tonight on both sides of the ball. A lot of intensity.”

Nothing to be etched in stone, but at least more than we heard from Curry.

Which was nothing.

Maybe Steph was trying to allow his teammates to get the attention after a 104-94 win over the troubled Portland Trail Blazers. Or maybe he was just weary from answering questions about the record he’s about to break.

You know the one, the lifetime total for 3-point baskets. For another few hours — or if Curry is off when the Warriors begin their road trip at Philly on Saturday, another few days — that record is 2,973, held by Ray Allen, who retired after the 2012-13 season.

Should we be excited about Steph’s quest? Indeed. He now is only nine threes short of tying Allen.

But unless the NBA is going to shut down tomorrow, Curry’s record is going to grow and grow. And grow. 

He has miles to go and many shots to make. The man is 33, and assuming he plays two seasons after this one — hey, LeBron will be 37 in a couple of weeks and he’s still rolling — Steph ought to put the record not only out of reach but beyond our imagination. He might hit another 200 of those long-range shots.

Not that teammate Draymond Green believes Curry will retain the record, once he sets it.

“Most people, especially in the analytical department, didn't think Steph Curry shot enough threes,” Green told NBC Bay Area Sports. 

“To this day, they still don't think Steph Curry shoots enough threes. That just goes to show you where the game is going and why his record will be broken probably within five to six years of him playing the game."

Who knows? What everyone does know is Curry helped remake the sport. Kids who wanted to dunk now just as often want to score from beyond the arc, which in the NBA is painted at 23 feet 9 inches.

"It totally changed the way the game is played,” said Green, “just by the way Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have been playing the game all this time.”

What Curry should be celebrated for is his accuracy and consistency. Along with his showmanship. Dribbling two basketballs in practice and connecting on those 35-foot baskets in pre-game warmups are fan favorites.

The eternal saying is that basketball is a team game, and while that’s true — hit the open man, switch while caught behind a screen on defense — it’s the individuals who make the game the joy it is.

The movie industry figured out a century ago that stars sold tickets. You didn’t need Shakespeare if Marilyn Monroe or Humphrey Bogart were on the marquee. In the NBA, what matters is who’s on the court — LeBron or Kevin Durant or, yes, Steph Curry.

As much as we love to watch them, others love to play with them — in effect sharing their success as well as adding to it. The other Warriors are well aware of the chase, at Chase Center and other locations, of a record.

“The vibe is still good,” said the Warriors’ Otto Porter Jr. “We are trying to figure out how to win playing Warriors basketball. We are trying to get good looks cutting off him. Steph is playmaking whether he is on or off the ball.”

Mostly when he shoots, he is on target.