REIGNING NBA MVP Stephen Curry made 11 3-pointers and scored 51 points to lead the Golden State Warriors past the Washington Wizards 134-121 for their eighth straight victory Wednesday night, which came in spite of a monster performance from John Wall.

    Wall scored a season-best 41 points in the shadows as Curry shot 13 of 14 for 36 points in the best first half of his career. After scoring just 13 points Sunday at New York, Curry was in a zone, tying Gilbert Arenas and Michael Jordan for the Verizon Center record and reaching 50 for the second time this season.

    “The shots that you know feel good go in, and some of the shots that you’re like, ‘Oh that’s off,’ they end up going in,” Curry said. “It’s a fun feeling, and you want to ride that until you can’t anymore.”

    Curry looked human when he missed seven of 10 shots during the third quarter but was dominant most of the night as the Warriors (45-4) matched the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers for the best 49-game start in NBA history.

    “It’s like Kobe (Bryant) when he had 81,” Wall said. “He couldn’t miss. You keep defending the best way you can. We challenged some shots. He didn’t have too many open looks. He just made them.”

    Curry’s 5 of 17 shooting performance against the Knicks was all forgotten by the end of this game. Not like coach Steve Kerr was worried.

    “I didn’t know Steph was in a slump,” Kerr said. “Steph’s never in a slump.”

    Curry made his first six shots from the floor and was feeling it, especially from 3-point territory. He came one 3 short of tying the single-game record, and though it was on his mind, he didn’t start popping shots just to reach it as the game got out of hand.

    “I was kind of searching but not trying to force with where the game was,” Curry said. “You can’t mess around with the basketball gods trying to chase a record if the game doesn’t call for it.” (SD-Agencies)