4. Stephen Curry, 54 points: Feb. 27, 2013
Feb. 27, 2013, arguably acted as Stephen Curry‘s breakout game. He overcame ankle injuries that plagued his third season and soared to the moon with the Golden State Warriors.
It started with 54 points on an absurd 18-for-28 shooting on a winter’s night against the Knicks. Even gaudier? 11 of them were 3-pointers on 13 attempts. Unreal.
Nothing could be done to stop Curry that evening, torching a Knicks backcourt that featured a near-retired Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert. Kidd played away from him, but the latter two guards tried their hand at stopping Curry and found nothing.
Due to the close score, head coach Mark Jackson kept Curry in for the full 48 minutes, and why not? It was a poor shooting night for everyone else in the pre-Steve Kerr era as Carl Landry — not Klay Thompson, Draymond Green or Harrison Barnes — was the second-leading scorer for Golden State.
While Curry’s 23 in the second quarter was his highest output, the 16 in the final period pushed Golden State to victory, 109-105. This included 10 points in a three-minute span to fend off the Knicks.
50-point games have happened for the two-time NBA MVP since, but this MSG showing still stands alone in his epic career.