Steph Curry scores 53 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain as Warriors' all-time leading scorer

Steph Curry got his franchise record out of the way quickly Monday night. He didn't stop and lit up the Denver Nuggets.

Curry poured in 53 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain as the Golden State Warriors' all-time scoring leader in a 116-107 victory. His third 50-point game of the season and ninth of his career helped Golden State win for the third time in four games.

Needing 19 points to pass Chamberlain coming into the game, Curry set the mark early. He scored 21 points in the first quarter, shooting 6-of-9 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Curry passed Chamberlain on a driving layup with 1:40 left in the quarter.

"To be anywhere near him in any record book or now be on top, it's surreal and it's wild," Curry said. "If you grow up in the game of basketball and you hear his name, you know it's something extremely special, no matter what it is."

Curry finished the night 14-of-24 from the field, 10-of-18 on 3s and 15-of-16 on free throws. It was Curry's 18th career game with at least 10 3-pointers, most in NBA history. Teammate Klay Thompson has the second-most with five such games.

"What he's doing is ridiculous. Nobody has ever shot the ball like this," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "He can shoot anywhere, any time, any situation, any defender on him. It's kind of crazy what he does out there."

In his 12th season, Curry has averaged 23.9 points per game since being drafted seventh overall in 2009. He entered Monday averaging 29.9 points this season, just shy of his career high of 30.1. Curry has been the leader of the 3-point revolution that has taken over the game and passed Reggie Miller earlier this season for second place on the NBA's career 3-pointers list.

Chamberlain scored 17,783 points in five-plus seasons for the Philadelphia and San Francisco Warriors from 1959-60 to 1964-65. Chamberlain averaged 41.5 points per game, including an NBA-record 50.4 points in 1961-62.

"I don't plan on slowing down obviously," Curry said, "but this is one to kind of take a second and appreciate for sure."

Follow Matt Eppers on Twitter @meppers_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Warriors: Steph Curry passes Wilt Chamberlain as team scoring leader