Golden State Warriors Blog – Page 31 – NBA Blog

Warriors now have 72 wins

The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors earned their 72nd win of the 2015-16 season with Sunday’s 92-86 road victory over the San Antonio Spurs, matching the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ NBA record for most wins in a single season.

With Sunday’s win, the Warriors finished the season with a 34-7 (.829) record on the road, establishing an NBA record for most road wins in a single season. At 72-9 (.889) on the season, Golden State has become the first team in NBA history to reach 63 games above the .500 mark. The Warriors snapped a 33-game regular-season road losing streak against the Spurs, earning their first regular-season win at San Antonio since Feb. 14, 1997. Golden State improved to 16-1 (.941) this season against teams with a winning percentage of .600 or better.

Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr, who is in his second year at the helm, was a key reserve on the record-setting Bulls team.

Warriors achieve 70-win NBA season, and counting

The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors earned their 70th win of the 2015-16 season with Thursday’s 112-101 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors join the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who won an NBA-record 72 games, as the only teams in NBA history to win at least 70 games in a single season. Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr, who is in his second year at the helm, was a key reserve on the record-setting Bulls team.

With Thursday’s win, the Warriors have clinched the best record in the NBA for the second consecutive season, becoming the seventh franchise in NBA history to own the league’s best record in back-to-back campaigns and the first to do so since the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008-09 and 2009-10. At 70-9 (.886) on the season, Golden State is tied with the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for the best record in NBA history through 79 games. The Warriors are now 13-1 (.929) this season against teams with a winning percentage of .600 or better.

LeBron James, Klay Thompson named NBA Players of Week

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson were named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 21 through Sunday, March 27.

James helped the Cavaliers to a 3-1 week with averages of 29.0 points (first in the Eastern Conference), 8.8 assists (second in the conference) and 8.5 rebounds. James bookended the week with triple-doubles in wins over the Denver Nuggets on March 21 and New York Knicks on March 26. In all four of Cleveland’s games, James scored 25-plus points, grabbed five or more rebounds and handed out five or more assists. James’ Cavaliers sit atop the Eastern Conference with a 52-21 record.

Thompson led the Warriors to a 4-0 week behind an NBA-best 32.3 points. He shot 62.2 percent (28-of-45) from distance and made at least five three-pointers in each of Golden State’s four games. Thompson closed the week with back-to-back 40-point games in wins over the Dallas Mavericks on March 25 and Philadelphia 76ers on March 27. Thompson’s Warriors own the league’s best record at 66-7.

Other nominees for the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Paul Millsap, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas, Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Indiana’s Ian Mahinmi, the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan, Miami’s Hassan Whiteside, New York’s Carmelo Anthony, and Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Historical Warriors NBA season continues

With Sunday’s win over Philadelphia, the Warriors joined the 1995-96 and 1996-97 Bulls as the only teams to win at least 66 games in consecutive seasons. Golden State became the 15th team ever to win 66 games and joined the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls as the only franchises with multiple 66-win seasons. The Warriors must go 7-2 to break the 1995-96 Bulls’ record for wins in a season (72). Six of their final nine games are at home, where Golden State has won a record 53 straight regular-season games over two seasons. The Warriors won 18 straight home games to end their 2014-15 campaign.

— NBA Broadcasters Bulletin

Festus Ezeli ahead of schedule in knee rehab

The Warriors are 63-7 this season. That’s a 90 percent winning percentage. And they’ll be even better when backup center Festus Ezeli, the team’s fifth leading scorer (7.5 ppg), third leading rebounder (5.9 rpg) and third leading shot-blocker (1.23 bpg) returns to action. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting:

Festus Ezeli said Wednesday that he’s ahead of schedule in his return from left knee surgery, adding some optimism to an otherwise choppy contract year for the Warriors’ backup center.

“I mean, to be honest, this is not an ideal contract year for me,” Ezeli said in his first public statements since the team updated his progress from a Feb. 8 arthroscopic procedure. “I started off, and I felt like I was gaining confidence and I was playing pretty well. I was getting a feel for the chemistry of the team, and we were bonding.

“Getting hurt right there in the middle is not ideal, but you can only focus on what you can control. Right now, I’m just working on my rehab and working on getting back, so I can work toward our main goal, which is to win a championship.”

Stephen Curry jokes about awful game vs Spurs

Stephen Curry jokes about awful game against Spurs

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry had his worst performance of the NBA regular season Saturday in San Antonio, but he didn’t let that dampen his spirits after the game.

Not long after the Warriors’ 87-79 loss to the Spurs, the reigning NBA MVP poked fun at himself on Twitter.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I thought I played my best game of the year,” Curry joked. “Live and Learn. On to the next!”

Curry struggled mightily against the Spurs’ league-best defense and shot just 4-from-18 from the field, including a career-worst 1-for-12 from 3-point range.

— CSN Bay Area

Draymond Green wants Warriors to beat Bulls all-time season record

Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green stood outside the losing locker room late Saturday night in San Antonio, trying to figure out exactly what his team has to accomplish in their final 13 NBA regular-season games to break the all-time single-season wins record.

When someone suggested that the Warriors need to close the season 10-3 to match the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who won 72 games, Green quickly issued a correction.

“No, we need 11 wins, because we want to break that thing,” Green said. “Hey, we’ve won 11 games in a row this season. There’s nothing we can’t do. It’s possible. We’re going after it, so it’s possible. …

“I’m not going to shy away from saying we want the record. We want the record, and we’re going after it.”

— San Francisco Chronicle

Spurs beat Warriors, still undefeated at home

LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 87-79 on Saturday night to remain perfect at the AT&T Center this season and extend their home dominance over the defending champions to 33 straight regular-season games.

Kawhi Leonard added 18 points and 14 rebounds for San Antonio, which has won 44 straight at home in the regular season, tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history.

The Spurs held Warriors superstar Stephen Curry to 14 points while limiting him to 1-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers.

— AP

On the Warriors and Spurs

In the NBA’s Western Conference race, the Golden State Warriors (59-6) lead the San Antonio Spurs (56-10) by 3.5 games for the No. 1 seed. The NBA’s top two teams, both unbeaten at home and newly crowned division champions, play three more times in the regular season, starting in San Antonio on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The Warriors have lost 32 consecutive regular-season games at San Antonio, their last victory coming Feb. 14, 1997. (The Warriors did win at San Antonio during the 2013 playoffs.) The Spurs and Warriors also meet Thursday, April 7 at Golden State (10:30 p.m., TNT) and Sunday, April 10 at San Antonio (7 p.m., NBA TV).

Warriors clinch 2015-16 Pacific division title

The Golden State Warriors today clinched the 2015-16 Pacific Division title by virtue of the Cavs’ 114-90 win over the Los Angeles Clippers this afternoon, giving the franchise its first back-to-back Pacific Division crowns since the club won consecutive division titles in 1974-75 and 1975-76.

Golden State has earned the franchise’s fourth Pacific Division championship since the NBA began using the current divisional format in 1970-71. Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr is the first head coach to win back-to-back division titles in his first two years at the helm since Tom Thibodeau earned consecutive Central Division titles with the Chicago Bulls in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Among the four major professional sports leagues, the Warriors are the first Bay Area team to earn consecutive division crowns since the Oakland Athletics won back-to-back West Division titles in 2012 and 2013.