Wolves-Golden State game preview

How good has Curry been? Let's count the ways

Somebody the other night asked Timberwolves interim head coach Sam Mitchell whether his own Zach LaVine has a "green light" to shoot any time he wants. Dumbstruck, Mitchell said he didn't know what that meant.

"I don't think any player in the history of the game should have a green light to take any shot they want," he said.

Oh, yeah?

Well, there is such a guy: His name, of course, is Stephen Curry, the NBA's very own circus performer who amazes nightly with shooting performances never before seen.

Just how sublime is the NBA's reigning MVP for a Golden State team that's chasing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' greatness and has won 50 consecutive regular-season home games?

• His 337 three-pointers made — an NBA single-season record already, breaking his own — is just 24 fewer than the Wolves as a team have made all season. Think about that.

• Curry has scored 50 points in a game three times this season, 40 points 12 times and 30 points 34 times. He's the NBA's scoring leader at 30.3 points a game.

Of course, it's no one-man show: Curry and Klay Thompson average a combined 52.4 points a game, once you factor in Thompson's 22.1 average. That's the best by two backcourt mates since Atlanta's Lou Hudson and Pete Maravich combined for 53.1 in the 1973-74 season. Together, they own the top four three-point seasons by a pair of teammates.

The 35th player selected in the 2012 draft, playmaking big man Draymond Green is redefining the notion of a "point forward." His 11 triple-doubles are the most in a season by a frontcourt player since Grant Hill's 13 in 1996-97. He became the 15th player in NBA history to record three consecutive triple-doubles, from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4, and he joined Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players ever to reach 29 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists in a game. Green did so Jan. 2 vs. Denver.

JERRY ZGODA