Where do NBA play-in stats and records go?

Except they did not. 

The NBA does not recognize individual play-in stats or team wins/losses as part of the regular-season or playoff record books. In other words, Golden State's win on Tuesday disappeared into the ether, as did Butler and Curry's heroic performances.

NBA.com has a separate category for the play-in, and even Basketball Reference acknowledges the games took place. However, neither entity counts the player's or team's cumulative stats tangibly.

Curry is most affected by the strange rule

Curry may be the most affected by the NBA's refusal to count play-in stats as playoff numbers. The veteran sharpshooter has tallied a combined 135 points from four play-in games, averaging 33.75 per contest. 

If those points counted toward his postseason stats, he'd currently have 4,101 career playoff points instead of 3,966, meaning he'd rank higher than Tony Parker on the all-time list, and on the verge of surpassing Jerry West for ninth-most playoff points. 

Last year, both Curry and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr urged the NBA to count the play-in stats as playoff stats.

"These are playoff games," Kerr said ahead of last year's play-in game, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "I can’t believe they're not included in the stats. The stats just disappear into the ether, it's crazy."

Curry said, "It's kind of a weird kink in the system. Sounds like I might be like the leading play-in scorer, if that's a stat."

The NBA has created a similar paradox as it pertains to the NBA Cup final, aka the in-season tournament. The Bucks defeated the Thunder in the NBA Cup final last December, but the outcome didn't count against either team's regular-season record or individual stats.

It will behoove the NBA to count the play-in stats as playoff stats. The games are played under similar pressure, and some may argue that they have higher stakes due to the sudden-death elimination format.