After Curry's highlight heave in a 40-point game, Green says the 'NBA is lucky' to watch the showman

NEW YORK (AP) — Perhaps only Stephen Curry could describe his basket as the first half was ending Thursday as a “rhythm shot.”

Who else but the most accomplished outside shooter in history could be in rhythm when he's nearly 40 feet away and not even facing the basket?

Curry threw in the turnaround heave from 38 feet with 0.3 seconds left in the second quarter en route to scoring 40 points in Golden State's 121-119 victory over Brooklyn, then just started running directly to the locker room so he could try to hide his surprise that it went in.

Those who have watched him for all these years weren't surprised at all.

“Most people can make that shot luckily,” Draymond Green said. “We all knew that shot was going in. That’s a different thing.”

Curry already made one from just beyond halfcourt to end a first half on this road trip, when he scored 56 points on Feb. 27 in Orlando in the opener of it. This one was closer, but seemingly more difficult.

He was standing with his feet inside the Nets' logo that extends over both sides of the center court line when he took a pass from Jimmy Butler. Curry simply spun and fired a turnaround jumper, giving Butler about as unlikely an assist as he'll ever get.

“That one, that’s not in the practice routine, but you have an idea of where you are on the court and as weird as it might sound, it’s kind of a rhythm shot because you don’t have any other thought than just to try to get it off,” Curry said. ‘"But it did surprise me, though. That’s why I just ran to the locker room."

The fans in the announced crowd of 18,413, the largest to see a Nets game at Barclays Center, were screaming as Curry ran off. They already had been for most of the second quarter, when he made three 3-pointers to get the Warriors almost back to even after Brooklyn ran out to a 27-5 lead.

“When we were out there on the court, I was thinking to myself the NBA is lucky, because this man is going into every arena and putting on a show,” Green said. “Sounds like it’s a home game every time he does it.”

Curry said those types of reactions from opposing crowds are because of the years of winning the Warriors have done. Green chalks is up more to the performances his teammate is giving them.

“I just think that the degree of difficulty is so crazy. You can see a guy score 40 points and be like, ‘He had a good game,’” Green said. “But when you see him score 40 points, it’s totally different because it’s not only him scoring the 40 points, but he’s literally putting on a show. It's like you want to watch the Cirque du Soleil or something.

"It’s not your typical show you’re going to watch,. It’s a whole bunch of different acrobatics that go into it.”

The Warriors are headed home now to start a seven-game homestand, their longest of the season. It'll be hard for Curry to be much better than he was while Golden State was going 4-1 on the road.

“Steph just had an incredible trip," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "Put on a show in every city.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) shoots a three-point shot over Brooklyn Nets' Cameron Johnson (2) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) shoots a three-point shot over Brooklyn Nets' Nic Claxton (33) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) shoots over Brooklyn Nets' Keon Johnson (45) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) gestures after making a three-point shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Thursday, March 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after scoring during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Thursday, March 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after making a three-point shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Thursday, March 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country's third-largest city.

A strike around 1 a.m. Tuesday leveled a three-story commercial building in the southern coastal city of Sidon, a few days before Lebanon’s army commander is scheduled to brief the government on its mission of disarming militant group Hezbollah in areas along the border with Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement Tuesday condemned the attacks as counter to both international efforts to deescalate hostilities and Lebanon’s efforts to extend the government's authority into areas long dominated by Hezbollah and to disarm militants.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene in Sidon said the area was in a commercial district containing workshops and mechanic shops and the building was uninhabited.

At least one person was transported by ambulance and rescue teams were searching the site for others, but no deaths have been reported.

Israel's military said Tuesday they targeted weapons storage sites and infrastructure belonging to the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas. They acknowledged the sites were located in civilian areas but blamed the groups for operating there.

The strikes were the latest in near-daily Israeli military action since a ceasefire signed more than a year ago that included a Lebanese pledge to disarm militant groups, which Israel says has not been fulfilled.

They took place nearly two hours after Israel’s military Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted warnings on X that the military would strike targets in two villages in the eastern Bekaa Valley and two others in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said a home struck in the village of Manara in the Bekaa Valley belonged to Sharhabil al-Sayed, a Hamas military commander who was killed in an Israeli drone strike in May 2024.

The areas were evacuated after Israel's warning. There were no reports of casualties in those strikes. Earlier Monday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said a drone strike on a car in the southern village of Braikeh earlier Monday wounded two people. The Israeli military said the strike targeted two Hezbollah members.

The Lebanese army last year began the disarmament process of Palestinian groups while the government has said that by the end of 2025 all the areas close to the border with Israel — known as the south Litani area — will be clear of Hezbollah’s armed presence.

The Lebanese government is scheduled to discuss Hezbollah’s disarmament during a meeting Thursday that will be attended by army commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal.

Monday’s airstrikes were in villages north of the Litani river and far from the border with Israel.

The disarmament of Hezbollah and other Palestinian groups by the Lebanese government came after a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah in which much of the political and military leadership of the Iran-backed group was killed.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September 2024 that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.

The war ended in November 2024 with a ceasefire brokered by the U.S.

Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing at least 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

People check a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike at a commercial district, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People check a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike at a commercial district in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People check the site where an Israeli strike destroyed a building at a commercial district in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People look through the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike at a commercial district in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese fire fighter extinguish a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Rescue workers search for possible victims in a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese Red Cross volunteers search for possible victims in a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)