Upon entering the field, Curry only needed ten 3 points to surpass the 2,973 award-winning shots made by the legendary shooter, a performance he has already achieved 22 times in his career.

"It was no secret that he was going to try to break that record right now," Matisse Thybulle, who defended on Curry during the game, said after the meeting.

"During the warm-up, Joel (Embiid) and I talked, and he told me there was no way we would let him do this on our floor."

"So I made sure personally that this would not be the case," Thybulle concluded.

Stephen Curry finished the game with 18 points, with a poor 6/20 on shots.

On the Sixers side, Cameroonian pivot Joel Embiid finished top scorer, with 26 points and 9 rebounds, Tobias Harris adding 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Seth Curry was hardly more successful than his brother, with 10 points and ... 0 out of 3 to 3 points.

Sixers pivot Joel Embiid shoots in front of Warriors inside Draymond Green during the meeting between the two teams on December 12, 2021 in Philadelphia Tim Nwachukwu GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

Next steps for Stephen Curry to break Ray Allen's record: Indianapolis, against the Pacers on Monday, then New York and Madison Square Garden against the Knicks on Tuesday.

"It's going to happen soon, there is no reason to force it," Warriors coach Steve Kerr commented of the record reaching out to Stephen Curry.

With this 5th loss of the season (for 21 wins), Golden State gave up first place in the Western Conference to the Phoenix Suns (21-4), who were not playing on Saturday.

In the other meetings of the evening, Utah garnered a 7th consecutive victory (best current series) in Washington 123-98, behind the 28 points of Donovan Mitchell and the 20 points and 11 rebounds of Rudy Gobert.

To win, the Jazz - third in the West with a record of 19-7 - relied in particular on a 13-4 inflicted on the Wizards at the end of the third quarter.

Without Paul George, the Clippers relied on Reggie Jackson to defeat Orlando 106-104 in Los Angeles: author of 9 of his 25 points in the last quarter, Jackson notably scored the victory basket 2 seconds from the siren - Terrence Ross immediately missing a 3-point buzzer.

In Miami, the Heat easily won 118-92 against Bulls very plucked by the Covid-19 - seven players were absent for health reasons.

Faced with a somewhat lonely Zach LaVine but who still scored 33 points, the Heat was able to count on Duncan Robinson (26 points) and Kyle Lowry (16 points, 14 assists).

Donovan Mitchell during the meeting between the Utah Jazz and the Washington Wizards on December 11, 2021. Patrick Smith GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

Beaten in San Antonio on Thursday (123-111), the Nuggets took revenge on Saturday night by winning against the Texans, still in their room, 127-112, including a very big game from the reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who has compiled 35 points at 62.5% success, 17 rebounds and 8 assists.

With this victory, Denver's record returns to balance (13 wins, 13 losses).

Also note, Cleveland's third straight victory against the Sacramento Kings (117-103), including a good game from their interior rookie Evan Mobley (15 points, 15 rebounds), and Memphis's victory against the Rockets (113-106).

© 2021 AFP