Steph Curry and Steve Kerr wonder why NBA play-in stats just disappear – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

SAN FRANCISCO — Amelia Earhart, DB Cooper and Jimmy Hoffa shouldn't be associated with Steph Curry, LeBron James or Jayson Tatum, but in the case of the NBA Play-In Tournament, they might as well be.

Just as the disappearances of Earhart, Cooper and Hoffa forever remain among the world's greatest mysteries, historic performances in the play-in tournament also disappear after the final buzzer.

Curry's 37 and 39 points in the play-in tournament three years ago are not found on his basketball reference page. The same goes for James' triple-double of 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Warriors at the arena formerly known as the STAPLES Center, and Tatum's 50-point drop against the Washington Wizards that same night.

The play-in tournament is neither the regular season nor the playoffs, but somewhere in between — let's call it the postseason for journalistic purposes — where statistics are written in invisible ink.

“These are playoff games,” Steve Kerr said Monday after the Warriors' practice when asked by NBC Sports Bay Area what the league should do with the play-in tournament statistics. “I can’t believe they aren’t included in the stats. The stats just disappear into the ether, it’s crazy.”

Curry could literally score 101 points against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night, write the number on a single piece of paper, take his best picture of Wilt Chamberlain next to his locker and the stats will never count.

When NBC Sports Bay Area reached out to an NBA spokesperson and asked why that is, how the decision was made, and whether that might change down the road since the play-in will clearly remain in place, the answer was simple: “That NBA Play-in “In Tournament” is separate from the NBA Playoffs, so statistics are not part of the playoffs or regular season.”

Curry played 40 minutes for a team that was without Klay Thompson for the second straight season, had Kent Bazemore in the starting lineup and substituted sophomores Juan Toscano-Anderson, Mychal Mulder and Jordan Poole. Curry did everything he could two play-in games in 2021, but the Warriors still fell victim to the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies. In two games, he scored a total of 76 points and made 12 3-pointers. Not enough.

Individual box scores can be found for such games. The competitive animal in Curry wishes he'd never been put in both of these situations so we could shake our heads at the highlights, and is more than content to have his stats zapped by a Men In Black neuralalyzer.

“I really don’t care because hopefully you’re not in the play-in that many times where it becomes something that you realize,” Curry said. “I hate the fact that there's a history of performances there. “It's our job to try and stay out of it every year, but that's the hand we're dealt.

“It’s kind of a weird kink in the system.”

Curry also enjoyed the oddity.

“Sounds like I’m the top play-in scorer, if that’s a stat,” Curry said.

According to NBC Sports Bay Area's Elias Sports Bureau, Curry's 76 play-in points are actually the sixth-most since the first play-in tournament game in 2020. The current format was adopted the next season when Curry and the Warriors were in it were It. Jonas Valanciunas (100 points), CJ McCollum (94 points), Ja Morant (90 points), Brandon Ingram (87 points) and Trae Young (87 points) are the five players ahead of Curry.

However, Curry is the only player in the top 10 in total play-in points to do so in just two games.

Valanciunas appeared in six play-in games, McCollum appeared in four. Morant, Ingram and Young all had three successes. Curry's 38.0 points per game is the best among anyone who has played at least two play-in games.

If Curry's point total were included in his career playoff statistics, he would become the 11th player to ever score at least 4,000 playoff points. His points per game average would increase slightly, from 27.0 points to 27.1. With 618 points in the playoffs, Curry is already by far the NBA's best 3-point player of all time, but adding another 12 would increase his three-point percentage per game in the playoffs from 4.20 to 4.23, and his 3-point percentage would increase from 39.7 percent to 39.8 percent.

Every percentage point counts when a player unties the laces of his sneakers one last time.

The NBA's league-wide 90-foot-by-50-foot eraser that wipes out play-in stats also sarcastically serves as Kerr's saving grace as the Warriors coach tries to turn a 3-0 loss into his career in the tournament on Tuesday evening in Sacramento.

“If I have a terrible coaching job tomorrow night and completely screw up the whole game, at least it will be invisible and no one will notice,” Kerr said.

Remembering what his record would look like if the Warriors were on the losing side again, Kerr let his grin do the talking before answering, “What play-in?” I don't remember that.”

Not even in the NBA history books.

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