{"id":7294,"date":"2016-04-13T21:10:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T05:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history\/"},"modified":"2016-04-13T21:10:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T05:10:00","slug":"golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden State Warriors Complete Best Season In NBA&#039;s 70-Year History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style:italic;font-size:16px\">By  <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/04\/14\/474173953\/golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=sports\">Christopher Dean Hopkins<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/04\/14\/474173953\/golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=sports\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2016\/04\/14\/gettyimages-521028480_wide-b673ff04207d91528eec36dd8f1834823cabb27a-s1100-c15.jpg\" title=\"Guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors has led the team to the top of the NBA for the past two seasons.\" alt=\"Guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors has led the team to the top of the NBA for the past two seasons.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors has led the team to the top of the NBA for the past two seasons. <strong>Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>toggle caption<\/strong> <span>Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Four years ago, in superstar guard Stephen Curry&#8217;s injury-truncated third season, the Golden State Warriors went 23-43 and missed the playoffs by 13 games.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday night, they beat the Memphis Grizzlies 125-104 to finish their regular season 73-9, breaking the Chicago Bulls&#8217; 20-year-old NBA record for most wins in a season.<\/p>\n<p>And this weekend when the playoffs begin, the Warriors will start their pursuit of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/16\/415093089\/golden-state-warriors-bring-home-first-nba-title-in-40-years\">a second straight championship<\/a> with a series against the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n<p>Driving it all has been Curry, whose mind-blowing three-point shooting range \u2014 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/fivethirtyeight.com\/features\/stephen-currys-bombs-are-too-good-to-be-true\/\">he was shooting 50 percent from beyond 30 feet<\/a> earlier this season \u2014 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2016\/03\/02\/468744894\/basketballs-3-pointer-from-tacky-gimmick-to-strategic-platform\">is emblematic of how the game is changing<\/a>. Curry&#8217;s virtuosity has also made some sports video games obsolete because he outperforms the virtual players. NBA 2K gameplay director Mike Wang told <em>All Things Considered<\/em>&#8216;s Ari Shapiro:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In real life, you&#8217;ve got to take good shots,&#8221; Wang said. &#8220;You know, with Steph, he&#8217;s, like \u2014 he could &#8230; shoot in double teams with two guys draped all over him and still hit the shot. So that&#8217;s something that we need to go back to the drawing board and see if we can get that back into our game.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Steph Curry just hit his 400th three of the season. No other player has even had more than 300 in a season. VIDEO: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wuhRi7eYuQ\">https:\/\/t.co\/wuhRi7eYuQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNNBA\/status\/720466841538281472\">April 14, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Curry led the scoring Wednesday night with 46 points, including 10-19 three-point shooting.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just try to keep pushing myself and try not to have any limits,&#8221; Curry told ESPN&#8217;s Doris Burke after the game. He said his teammates, their focus and their eagerness to take on the challenge is what got the Warriors the record.<\/p>\n<p>Golden State is also the first NBA team to make it through a season without losing two games in a row, and without losing twice to the same team, ESPN reported.<\/p>\n<p>There had been some question <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/04\/08\/473558851\/the-golden-state-warriors-are-on-the-brink-of-history-will-they-go-for-it\">about how aggressively the Warriors would pursue the wins record<\/a> \u2014 they locked up home-court advantage through the playoffs a week ago and could have rested their players ahead of the playoffs \u2014 but the players were eager to make history.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m only 26. When I&#8217;m 36, I&#8217;ll be looking to rest more,&#8221; guard Klay Thompson told reporters after the team&#8217;s April 7 win.<\/p>\n<p>Curry also was all-in on the record chase, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.csnchicago.com\/bulls\/warriors-finally-relishing-chance-break-bulls-record-why-not\">CSN Chicago reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;We have an opportunity to do something that has never been done before in history,&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;So many great players have suited up since the NBA began, and for us 15 guys to say we&#8217;ve accomplished something as a group that&#8217;s never been done before, that&#8217;s remarkable. So, we earned the right to have a 48-minute game to eclipse that mark and we have to go out and finish the job and do it the right way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Warriors coach Steve Kerr was a bench player on the 1995-1996 Bulls team that previously held the record, and was asked about the two seasons after Wednesday&#8217;s game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It feels different as a coach than it did as a player,&#8221; Kerr said, but he added that the two seasons went the same way \u2014 &#8220;lose one, get angry, win ten.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/fivefilters\/block-ads\/wiki\/There-are-no-acceptable-ads\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source:: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/04\/14\/474173953\/golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=sports\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Golden State Warriors Complete Best Season In NBA&#039;s 70-Year History\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/04\/14\/474173953\/golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=sports<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/04\/14\/474173953\/golden-state-warriors-complete-best-season-in-nbas-70-year-history?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=sports\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2016\/04\/14\/gettyimages-521028480_wide-b673ff04207d91528eec36dd8f1834823cabb27a-s1100-c15.jpg\" title=\"Guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors has led the team to the top of the NBA for the past two seasons.\" alt=\"Guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors has led the team to the top of the NBA for the past two seasons.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors has led the team to the top of the NBA for the past two seasons. <strong>Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>toggle caption<\/strong> <span>Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Four years ago, in superstar guard Stephen Curry&#8217;s injury-truncated third season, the Golden State Warriors went 23-43 and missed the playoffs by 13 games.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday night, they beat the Memphis Grizzlies 125-104 to finish their regular season 73-9, breaking the Chicago Bulls&#8217; 20-year-old NBA record for most wins in a season.<\/p>\n<p>And this weekend when the playoffs begin, the Warriors will start their pursuit of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/16\/415093089\/golden-state-warriors-bring-home-first-nba-title-in-40-years\">a second straight championship<\/a> with a series against the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n<p>Driving it all has been Curry, whose mind-blowing three-point shooting range \u2014 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/fivethirtyeight.com\/features\/stephen-currys-bombs-are-too-good-to-be-true\/\">he was shooting 50 percent from beyond 30 feet<\/a> earlier this season \u2014 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2016\/03\/02\/468744894\/basketballs-3-pointer-from-tacky-gimmick-to-strategic-platform\">is emblematic of how the game is changing<\/a>. Curry&#8217;s virtuosity has also made some sports video games obsolete because he outperforms the virtual players. NBA 2K gameplay director Mike Wang told <em>All Things Considered<\/em>&#8216;s Ari Shapiro:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In real life, you&#8217;ve got to take good shots,&#8221; Wang said. &#8220;You know, with Steph, he&#8217;s, like \u2014 he could &#8230; shoot in double teams with two guys draped all over him and still hit the shot. So that&#8217;s something that we need to go back to the drawing board and see if we can get that back into our game.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Steph Curry just hit his 400th three of the season. No other player has even had more than 300 in a season. VIDEO: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wuhRi7eYuQ\">https:\/\/t.co\/wuhRi7eYuQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNNBA\/status\/720466841538281472\">April 14, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Curry led the scoring Wednesday night with 46 points, including 10-19 three-point shooting.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just try to keep pushing myself and try not to have any limits,&#8221; Curry told ESPN&#8217;s Doris Burke after the game. He said his teammates, their focus and their eagerness to take on the challenge is what got the Warriors the record.<\/p>\n<p>Golden State is also the first NBA team to make it through a season without losing two games in a row, and without losing twice to the same team, ESPN reported.<\/p>\n<p>There had been some question <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/04\/08\/473558851\/the-golden-state-warriors-are-on-the-brink-of-history-will-they-go-for-it\">about how aggressively the Warriors would pursue the wins record<\/a> \u2014 they locked up home-court advantage through the playoffs a week ago and could have rested their players ahead of the playoffs \u2014 but the players were eager to make history.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m only 26. When I&#8217;m 36, I&#8217;ll be looking to rest more,&#8221; guard Klay Thompson told reporters after the team&#8217;s April 7 win.<\/p>\n<p>Curry also was all-in on the record chase, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.csnchicago.com\/bulls\/warriors-finally-relishing-chance-break-bulls-record-why-not\">CSN Chicago reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;We have an opportunity to do something that has never been done before in history,&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;So many great players have suited up since the NBA began, and for us 15 guys to say we&#8217;ve accomplished something as a group that&#8217;s never been done before, that&#8217;s remarkable. So, we earned the right to have a 48-minute game to eclipse that mark and we have to go out and finish the job and do it the right way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Warriors coach Steve Kerr was a bench player on the 1995-1996 Bulls team that previously held the record, and was asked about the two seasons after Wednesday&#8217;s game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It feels different as a coach than it did as a player,&#8221; Kerr said, but he added that the two seasons went the same way \u2014 &#8220;lose one, get angry, win ten.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/fivefilters\/block-ads\/wiki\/There-are-no-acceptable-ads\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports-recreation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}