The Warriors are now off to the best start to a season by any team in the history of all four major North American sports.
For the week of Monday, Dec. 14 – Sunday, Dec. 20
Well, it had to happen eventually, right?
The Warriors’ historic winning streak finally came to an end, following their first loss of the season in Milwaukee on Saturday night. A team that seemed to defy so much of what we thought was even conceptually possible, that turned our collective imaginations into reality, finally proved that they were, in fact, mortal. It was the first time the Warriors found themselves on the wrong end of a final score in a game that actually mattered since Game 3 of the NBA Finals, a mind-blowing span of 186 days. That means they went more than half a calendar year without a defeat. Forget wins, that kind of consistency over such a prolonged period of time is extremely rare in any element of our daily lives. Throughout their amazing run, with each successive victory, the Warriors tantalized audiences around the globe with the active awareness and understanding that the scenes unfolding in front of their eyes and on their television screens were unlike anything they’d ever seen before, and perhaps were unlikely to ever see again. They turned us all into bystanders of greatness, who simply could do nothing but ooh and ahh at the rarity of our collective experience. If a victory was a shooting star, they became the meteor shower that illuminated the dark expanse of a place we didn’t know existed.
The 24 consecutive wins to begin a season were the most by any team in the history of the four major North American sports, and obliterated the streak of 15 games that formerly held the spot in NBA lore. They also formed the third-longest NBA single-season winning streak ever, and when combined with their four-straight wins to conclude last season, set the new mark for the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. Additionally, their 14 road wins over that span set the new league record for the longest road winning streak to begin a season, and now ranks as the third-longest road winning streak ever. Basically, almost any sort of NBA winning streak qualifier, you name it, the 2015-16 Warriors will now be at or near the top of that list.
Of those 24 wins, only 10 came at Oracle Arena. 15 wins came against teams from the Western Conference, 13 came against teams .500 or better, and 13 came against teams that made the playoffs a year ago. Six wins came on the back end of a back-to-back, while two came by way of overtime victories, with the 24th and final victory of the streak going to double-OT. Golden State scored at least 100 points in each of those 24 victories, and their plus-340 scoring margin over that span ranks as the third-largest point differential in NBA history through the season’s first 24 games.
Simply put, it was an incredible run. But in many ways, the streak now being over can be seen as a positive. No longer will the Dubs feel any sort of pressure to exert unnecessary amounts of energy, simply to add another paragraph to the history books. While the defending champs will continue to see raucous crowds wherever they go on the road, chances are the environments there will diminish from their current playoff-like states. This team sees any challenge, whether it be personal or league history, as one they want to take on. But ultimately, there’s one streak that matters far beyond any other to this team, and that is a streak of two. Two, as in two-straight championships, which can only be accomplished next June. This amazing streak has helped place the Warriors on a path to get to that point, but as we know, there is still a long, long way left to go to get there.
I guarantee you he’d much rather have a 25th win, but for now, this designation will have to do. Draymond Green continued his stellar season this past week, and although he didn’t necessarily shoot the ball particularly well, as usual, that didn’t stop him from making an impact all over the court. Green averaged 18.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.3 steals and 2.3 blocks in the three games last week. He posted consecutive 20-point, 10-rebound games for the first time in his career, and in Friday’s win over the Celtics, he became the third player in the last 40 years and first since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993 to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks in a single game. We’re now almost a third of the way through the NBA season, and few power forwards have put together the kind of resume Green has up to this point. With All-Star voting now fully in swing, it’s fair timing to discuss his credentials. He’s been one of the two most important players on a record-breaking team, and is almost single-handedly redefining how we evaluate his position. At this point, he deserves to be in the All-Star game, and a few more weeks like last would go a long way towards getting him there.
After a season-long seven-game road trip that took them to three different time zones and two different countries over 13 days, if you think the Warriors are glad to be back in the Bay Area, just wait until you hear the crowd welcome them home this week. The Warriors now open a stretch in which they’ll play only five games (all at home) over a span of 17 days, beginning on Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns. After Wednesday’s game, the Warriors will get a shot at redemption when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks for the second time in less than a week on Friday night. With their only loss of the season still certainly fresh in their minds, you can bet the Dubs will be looking to make a statement against the only team to beat them in essentially half a year. With only two games on this week’s slate, it offers a great chance for the Warriors, particularly those that are injured or have played heavy minutes, to get some much-needed rest and recuperation. At 24-1, there’s absolutely no doubt that they’ve earned it.
Till next week.
The Dish has been served.
