Stephen Curry scores 51, sets record for consecutive games with a three-pointer

Stephen Curry’s smile gave way to laughter.

The NBA’s reigning MVP took an inbounds pass after a free throw, dribbled past midcourt and launched a 44-foot shot that banked in at the buzzer to end the third quarter.

The crowd rose to its feet, Curry lifted his arms and struck a pose, chuckling his way to the Golden State Warriors bench.

“I was laughing, sure. That really isn’t supposed to happen,” Curry said Thursday night after making 10 three-point shots and scoring 51 points in a 130-114 victory over the Orlando Magic at Orlando, Fla.

“I made a bunch of threes in the third quarter and then finished with that one. It was really funny to me, it just banked off the glass.”

A night after scoring 42 points in a six-point victory at Miami, Curry made 20 of 27 shots, 10 of 15 from beyond the three-point arc. The Warriors pulled away in the closing minutes of the third quarter, with his bank shot giving the defending NBA champions a 99-91 lead.

“Are you guys surprised?” Magic guard Evan Fournier asked reporters. “I’m not. It’s just what he does.”

Curry topped 50 points for the third time this season, the first player to do so that many times since 2008-09, when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did it.

That wasn’t his only highlight of the night.

Curry surpassed Kyle Korver’s mark of 127 consecutive games with a three-point basket.

“I have a hard time seeing how that streak is ever going to end,” Magic Coach Scott Skiles said. “It would have to be kind of a fluke night.”

San Antonio 96, at Utah 78: Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points and the Spurs held the Jazz to its lowest point total of the season.

Houston 119, at Portland 105:

James Harden led the Rockets with 46 points and eight assists.

at New Orleans 123, Oklahoma City 119: Anthony Davis scored 30 points and blocked four shots and three Pelicans reserves combined for 60 points. Ryan Anderson scored 26 points, Jrue Holiday 22 and Toney Douglas 12. Russell Westbrook scored 44 points and Kevin Durant 32 for the Thunder.

at Boston 112, Milwaukee 107: The Celtics have won nine consecutive home games after Isaiah Thomas scored 27 points, eight in the fourth quarter.

Brooklyn 116, at Phoenix 106: Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Nets. Mirzz Teletovic scored a season-high 30 for the Suns, who have lost 13 consecutive games to match a single-season franchise record. They’ve lost a franchise-record eight in a row at home.