Stephen Curry fails to score a first-half point for the first time in FIVE YEARS against the Wizards… before adding 18 after the interval to help the Warriors claim 123-112 win

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry failed to score a basket in the first half for the first time in five years during Tuesday’s 123-112 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Curry was held scoreless in the first half for the first time in the regular season since Nov. 23, 2012, when he went scoreless against the Denver Nuggets.

He missed his first seven shots against the Wizards, six of which were three-pointers. And to make matters worse, three of them were aerial balls, although one was a 32-foot drive at the halftime buzzer.

Curry finally got on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer 53 seconds into the third quarter and the Warriors thereafter outscored the Wizards 38-17 in the period.

The 35-year-old guard finished the game with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and was 4 of 16 on three-pointers, while the rest of the Warriors were 17 of 30 from beyond the arc.

Guard Klay Thompson finished the game with 25 points and four assists, while Chris Paul after missing the last seven weeks due to a knee injury.

Jonathan Kuminga added 21 points for Golden State, which won 11 of 14 and moved into ninth place in the Western Conference, percentage points ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Tyus Jones had a career-high 17 assists and scored 14 points for the Wizards, whose season streak reached 12 games. Kyle Kuzma had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Corey Kispert and Marvin Bagley III each scored 20 for Washington, which was missing two starters in Deni Avdija (left heel bruise) and rookie Bilal Coulibaly (right pelvic bruise). .

Curry has failed to score before halftime 16 times in his career, including once in the playoffs: May 10, 2019 against Houston, when he scored 33 points in the second half and led the Warriors to a 118-game victory. 113. His other scoreless first halves came during his first four seasons.

Paul, who missed 21 games with a broken left hand that required surgery, played with the fresh legs of a rested 38-year-old. He was the catalyst for a 19-4 second-quarter run that turned a nine-point Warriors deficit into a six-point lead, with a 3-pointer, a steal, two assists and two rebounds.

The triple moved him past Steve Nash for 32nd place in NBA history. He finished with nine points and six assists in 22 minutes.

While the pro-Warriors crowd rooted for Curry, they ended up rooting for Paul, who joined the Warriors in an offseason trade with Washington for Jordan Poole.

Midway through the third quarter, Paul stood a few seconds outside the arc, and when no one came out to defend him, he launched a three-pointer that put Golden State ahead 85-71, walking to the bench with a bewildered smile.

At the end of the quarter, he calmly pointed his teammates to their spots on the court while Kispert guarded him, then threw a perfect lob to Kuminga for a dunk and a 98-75 Warriors lead.