Golden State’s Stephen Curry is changing the NBA game

For years, as NBA highlights were played on the nightly sportscasts, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle noticed one undeniable consistency.

Those networks showed a ton of dunks.

Not anymore.

And that, Carlisle acknowledged, is a credit to Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

Not only has Curry put the fun back in the jump shot, he’s practically made it fashionable.

“Curry is changing the way the game is played before our eyes,” Carlisle said. “What he’s doing right now, he’s changing the way our game is going to be played in the future. It’s really historic.

“No one has ever played this way off the dribble. It’s breathtaking to watch. It’s something that we really have never seen before in this league.”

The Mavericks (18-13) may not get their chance at defending Curry when they host the defending NBA champion Warriors (29-1) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at American Airlines Center.

Curry didn’t practice with the Warriors at the AAC late Tuesday afternoon and is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game. Warriors interim coach Luke Walton told the San Jose Mercury News that Curry is suffering from an ailing lower left leg and may not play against the Mavs, and also may not play Thursday at Houston.

Curry leads the NBA in scoring (30.5), is seventh in 3-point shooting (44.6 percent) and 16th in overall field-goal shooting (51.1 percent). He is a nightmare for defenders.

Carlisle, meanwhile, had invoked Apple and Microsoft gurus when referencing Curry’s skills.

“You’ve just got to try to make it hard on him, but you’re talking about a guy that it’s a little bit like what Steve Jobs has done to our everyday life,” Carlisle said of Curry. “He’s changed the way we live — he and Bill Gates have done that.

“Steph Curry is changing the way the game will be played in the future. I’m sure of it, and that’s an historic thing.”

Curry has become the new face of the NBA. He’s the league’s reigning most valuable player and The Associated Press named him the 2015 Male Athlete of the Year.

His shooting range has been measured at 35 feet. The NBA 3-point line ranges from 22 feet to 23 feet, 9 inches.

He has one of the NBA’s all-time best 3-point shooters, forward Dennis Scott, praising his game.

A member of the Mavericks during the 1997-98 season, Scott was one of the NBA’s top 3-point shooters when he played from 1990-2000. He hit 11 3-pointers against the Atlanta Hawks on April 18, 1996.

“I was telling my mother the other day, ‘You had me 20 years too early,’ ” Scott said. “When I was making nine or 10 threes a game, it was, ‘OK, he’s a specialist.’ Now, 28 of the 30 teams shoot over 20 threes a night, so I’m like, ‘Man, I wish I was still playing today.’ ”

At times, it is as if Curry is some sort of Houdini in sneakers, even in warm-ups.

Fans used to arrive early at games so they could see the array of dunks in pregame. Now, they get to Warriors game early so they can see the spectacular shooting and ball-handling display Curry puts on during warm-ups, including dribbling two balls at once.

His warm-ups are entertaining and draw hundreds and sometimes thousands of fans, but his in-game, off-the-dribble shooting is the talk of the league.

“He’s changing the game,” Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons said. “There have been some great shooters in the league, but I think he’s the best ever, especially off the dribble.

“His handle is so tight and so quick, his shot is so fast, he can shoot it from deep, he can shoot it off the dribble going both ways, off screens. There’s not a shot that he can’t shoot and hit at any given time in the game.”

Monday’s game against Sacramento was a perfect example. Curry blistered the Kings for 17 points during the last 3:16 of the second quarter.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Mavericks guard Devin Harris said. “I don’t know if he brought back the art of the jump shot because not many people can do what he can do, especially off the dribble.”

Last season, the Mavericks were victims of one of Curry’s shooting rampages. Dallas led by 22 points at Golden State before Curry scored 26 points in the third quarter en route to 51 points in the Warriors’ 128-114 win.

Curry made 10-of-16 3-pointers and 16 of 26 shots overall.

“He’s an incredible player [and] he seems to have unlimited range,” Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said. “He shoots tough shots — that’s what he does as well.

“Sometimes he’s going to make tough shots, he’s going to make pull-ups from 35 feet or whatever, and sometimes you just have to take the ball out and push it right back at him and make him play some defense. You obviously try to not have him score on these binges.”

Indiana Pacers forward C.J. Miles said the Curry Effect has been so infectious that teams rarely pound it inside to the big men anymore.

“They know teams want to play up and down with spacing on the floor,” said Miles, a graduate of Dallas Skyline High School. “So having that weapon makes the game easier.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Golden State’s Stephen Curry is changing the NBA game."