What is the NBA single-game record for most 3-pointers? Where Stephen Curry ranks on full list of leaders for regular season and playoffs

Scott Rafferty

What is the NBA single-game record for most 3-pointers? Where Stephen Curry ranks on full list of leaders for regular season and playoffs image

Stephen Curry might be the greatest 3-point shooter in NBA history, but he doesn't own every 3-point record.

One of the records Curry doesn't hold is the most 3-pointers made in a regular season game. He did for a few years, but Curry's "Splash Brother," Klay Thompson, has since broken it.

In a win over the Bulls on Oct. 29, 2018, Thompson exploded for 14 3-pointers, the most ever in an NBA game. The craziest part? It took him only 27 minutes and 24 attempts to do it. It's one of many times Thompson has broken basketball in his career.

But don't feel too bad for Curry because his name is still all over the single-game leaderboard for 3-pointers made.

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What is the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in a regular season game?

Thompson holds the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in a regular season game with 14.

Curry, Zach LaVine and Damian Lillard are tied in second place with 13 3-pointers. Curry and Thompson have also made 12 3-pointers in a single game, tying them with Kobe Bryant, Donyell Marshall and Keegan Murray for the third-most in NBA history.

A total of 51 players in NBA history have made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game, but Curry is in a class of his own with 24 such games. Thompson has the second-most with nine.

NBA single-game record for 3-pointers (regular season)
Rank Player 3-pointers made
1. Klay Thompson 14
2. Stephen Curry 13
  Zach LaVine 13
  Damian Lillard 13
4. Klay Thompson (x2) 12
  Stephen Curry 12
  Kobe Bryant 12
  Donyell Marshall 12
  Keegan Murray 12
5. Stephen Curry (x10) 11
  Damian Lillard (x3) 11
  Zach LaVine 11
  CJ McCollum 11
  Klay Thompson 11
  Kyrie Irving 11
  Marcus Smart 11
  Buddy Hield 11
  Fred VanVleet 11
  Robert Covington 11
  Malik Beasley 11
  Bojan Bogdanovic 11
  J.R. Smith 11
  Dennis Scott 11
  Deron Williams 11

What is the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in a playoff game?

You might be surprised to hear that neither Curry nor Thompson holds the record for most 3-pointers made in a playoff game.

That record belongs to another sharpshooter in Damian Lillard, who canned 12 3-pointers in a double-overtime loss to the Nuggets in the 2021 NBA Playoffs.

Other than Lillard, Thompson is the only player in NBA history to make 10 or more 3-pointers in a playoff game.

The most 3-pointers Curry has made in a playoff game is nine.

NBA single-game record for 3-pointers (playoffs)
Rank Player 3-pointers made
1. Damian Lillard 12
2. Klay Thompson 11
3. Damian Lillard 10
4. Stephen Curry (x2) 9
  Donovan Mitchell (x2) 9
  Jamal Murray (x2) 9
  Ray Allen (x2) 9
  Damian Lillard 9
  Klay Thompson 9
  Bojan Bogdanovic 9
  Vince Carter 9
  Jason Terry 9
  Rex Chapman 9

Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.