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Stephen Curry: ‘Not a chance’ he tops Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game

Courtesy of USA Today Images

Stephen Curry is playing basketball at a level we haven’t seen in a long time. But the Golden State Warriors superstar point guard believes there are certain limitations to the way the NBA game is played nowadays that would keep him from coming close to matching Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game.

Speaking with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Curry smiled and shook his head when asked if he could ever see himself passing Bryant’s single-game pinnacle achievement.

“Not a chance,” Curry told Los Angeles News Group. “There’s a reason why people are still talking about that game to this day. It’s so special.”

Curry has been unstoppable at times this season, as he was during last year’s MVP campaign. He has scored 40-plus points eight times and 50-plus points three times during the 2015-16 season (his season high is 53), and he averaged 43.75 points per game during a recent four-game stretch.

Still, as amazing as he’s been this year, Curry’s best in terms of points production still falls short of Bryant’s 81-point phenomenon by 28 points.

No wonder he doesn’t see himself ever coming close to matching the Black Mamba.

Of course, for Curry it’s not a matter of confidence in his game keeping him from the feat. Rather, he sees it as a product of how the Warriors play the game, which is far different than what the Lakers were doing when Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006.

“A lot of it has to do with our system and the way we play,” Curry said. “Kobe had a reason to get up as many shots as he did in the [Toronto] game. I don’t think anybody will get up 40-plus attempts no matter how hot they are.”

To Curry’s point, the most shots attempted this year by him came in November when he hoisted 31 shots up against the Brooklyn Nets. It is the only time this season in which he has eclipsed 30 attempts.

Bryant needed 46 attempts a decade ago when he scored 81 points. No doubt, if Warriors head coach Steve Kerr devised a game plan in which Curry took 46 shots, he’d likely smash Bryant’s mark.

Shooting 51.4 percent from the field this year and 46.5 percent from behind the three-point line, he’s the best pure shooter the Association has seen since the days of Reggie Miller.

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