Golden State Warriors The NBA champion Golden State Warriors are playing out of their bloody minds right now, kicking everybody’s ass while breaking and setting new records. The Warriors record stands at 23-0 and counting. Their winning streak is simply mind boggling. They’ve played more than a quarter of the 82 games for the 2015-16 campaign and haven’t lost once. It is the best start in history to a season in all professional sports in North America by the Warriors. Some analysts are even using the superlatives to describe the unbeaten, rampaging Warriors as the best team of all time.
The Warriors are better than the great Los Angeles Lakers team of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and James Worthy of the 1980s?; better than the Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen-led Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, ladies, and gentlemen? Some experts seem to think so. Current Lakers coach Byron Scott, a member of the 80s team, said they would have won a seven-game series against the Warriors because of Magic and great post players like Jabbar and Worthy. The experts disagree saying that the Lakers would not have stood a chance against the current Warriors because of their barrage of long range shooting, which Scott himself acknowledged.
The Warriors’ number 23 victims were the resurgent Indiana Pacers, who were expected to hand the champions their first defeat of the season after winning a close, bruising battle on Saturday against the Toronto Raptors, the first team to push them to the limit this season. The following day the
Warriors also beat the Brooklyn Nets. They were supposed to be tired after two tough back to back games on the road. But, led by Klay Thompson and last year’s most valuable player award winner Stephen Curry on Tuesday in Indianapolis, the champions beat the Pacers 131-123 to keep their unbeaten streak alive.
Thompson, who is Curry’s partner in the best backcourt in the NBA, was on fire. He scored an amazing 10 three-pointers and finished with 39 points. Center Andrew Bogut contributed 14 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocked shots. Nigerian backup center Festus Ezeli scored 12 points. Curry, the NBA scoring leader, finished with 29 points and 10 assists. The Warriors unloaded 44 points on the home team in the first quarter, finishing the first half leading by 19 points. The Warriors entered the fourth quarter leading by 28 points, and they seemed to be cruising to an easy victory. But the Pacers refused to surrender to the champions, cutting their huge deficit to 5 at some point late in the fourth quarter. Paul George tried to will the Pacers to victory with his individual brilliance and performance, finishing with 33 points, 8 Rebounds, and 10 Assists. CJ Miles scored 24 points for the home team. But Curry and Draymond Green (8points, 9Rebounds, 4assists), made critical shots than the stretch to secure victory over the Pacers.
The champions continue to make history. On November 24, the Warriors surpassed the 15-0 starts set by the Washington Capitols of 1948-49 and the Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston Rockets of 1993-94 when they drubbed the hapless Los Angeles Lakers 111-77. The victory on Tuesday was the Warriors’ 27th consecutive wins going back to last season, the second highest of all time in the NBA. And the Warriors are not just beating the bottom feeders of the NBA; the elite teams such as the hated arch rival Los Angeles Clippers (2-0); Memphis Grizzlies (1-0) and the Chicago Bulls (1-0), have not fared any better against them.
Blame a pre-season poll of NBA general managers in which the respondents gave the defending champions only 18 percent chance of retaining their title. The Warriors probably take it personally that anyone would dare imply that their hard-won championship last year was a fluke. With their latest victory at Indiana, the Warriors have set a new record (13 straight wins) as the best road team in all sports in North America. Their next game on the road is against the Boston Celtics on Friday.
: NBA Champs Historic Start to a Season