The Golden State Warriors were already historic, but now it's official. Behind 37 points from Stephen Curry and an offensive outburst in the second half, the Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 92-86 on the road to win their 72nd game of the season, tying the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls NBA record. At 72-9, the Warriors will set the record for wins if they can handle the Memphis Grizzlies in Oakland on Wednesday.
Warriors vs. Spurs final score: Golden State grinds out historic win No. 72 over San Antonio
Stephen Curry went off agains the Spurs as the Warriors tied the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls with their 72nd win on the season.
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
The win ended the Spurs' 48-game winning streak in San Antonio and assured the Spurs would not become the first team in NBA history to finish a season undefeated at home. Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 10 rebounds, but the Spurs weren't able to overcome the Warriors and their quest for 73 wins.
Curry led the way, but Draymond Green was instrumental with 11 points and as the vocal leader that he so often is and the Warriors bench was superb in the fourth quarter.
To tie the Bulls, the Warriors had to not only snap the Spurs’ 48-game home winning streak, but also end their own 33-game losing streak in San Antonio. After coming up big in the second half, the Warriors are one win away form NBA immortality.
The first quarter was a defensive slugfest, with the Spurs fighting to a 19-14 lead while holding the Warriors to 21.1 percent shooting from the field. Shots started to fall in the second and both offenses picked up, but only slightly. Both teams worked so hard defensively, beating the offensive players to the spot on nearly every possession. They recover so well on every possession —- even if the Warriors were getting beat on a backdoor cut after a switch, the Warriors would get back into position. The Spurs couldn’t find the bottom of the net, but they grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to stay in the game.
The Spurs came out firing in the second half, using a 10-2 run to burst to a 45-37 lead, but the Warriors answered with a 12-0 run of their own. The offenses finally did find their rhythm in the third — mostly thanks to Curry doing what he always does. The Warriors outscored the Spurs 27-26 in the third to take a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Warriors second unit jumped out in the fourth, giving the Warriors a 78-73 lead with 5:47 left. Curry came into the game to extend the Warriors’ lead to 11, and the Warriors never looked back. The lead shrunk to seven with less than 3:30 to play, but Curry and the Warriors were too much.
Here’s three things we learned:
Stephen Curry is too good, even for the Spurs defense
With just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter, Kawhi Leonard sliced through the lane and threw down a thunderous dunk to give the Spurs an eight-point lead — and it seemed like the Spurs were going to pull away. Then Curry happened. He nailed two threes on back-to-back possessions to start a 12-0 run that gave the Warriors their first lead of the second half. This was the best game in the Warriors-Spurs matchups this season, and the two stars showed up.
Curry was unstoppable, leading the offensive onslaught that kept the Warriors alive in the third quarter with absurd passing, ball movement, and shot-making. He can make shots from anywhere on the court, and it’s impossible to guard. He isn’t just a three-point shooter, against the Spurs he drives to the hoop.
Curry was 13-of-22 from the field and 4-of-9 from deep against the NBA’s best defense. He’s the best player on a team that has a chance to break a Michael Jordan record — Curry is transcending the league.
The Spurs defense is fantastic, but the Warriors can grind, too
Spurs have the best defensive rating (points given up per 100 possessions) in the NBA — heading into Sunday's game it was 96.5. The Warriors, with a defensive rating of 101, have the NBA's sixth best defense. These were the top two defenses in the league on Sunday. Both teams hustled to their spots and were almost always a step ahead of the offenses — which hasn't happened much this season. The Warriors have had one of the best offenses in NBA history this season, but the Spurs made them look like the 2005 Detroit Pistons. Not that the Spurs were much better. Golden State shot 35.1 percent from the field in the first half while the Spurs shot a miserable 28.6 percent. Both teams did find their offenses in the second half, but it wasn't easy going for either squad.
The Spurs were missing Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw, which could make their defense even better.
The Warriors haven’t been as good as they were on the defensive side of the court this season — they had a defensive rating of 98.2 last year — but Sunday’s game showed the Warriors defense is playoff ready.
This is going be very, very fun in June
Only one team was going to be able to make history, but good grief these are two of the best teams the league has ever seen. Even when the teams were beating one another up in the first half, the game was being played at a high level. Both teams move the ball so well — its rare to see the ball stall in a player’s hands for more than two seconds. They pass, they play defense, and they play hard. The Western Conference Finals are going to be thrilling.
Aside from the Warriors blowout in the first game between the two this season, the series has been tight, and Sunday’s game was the best of all. Barring a huge upset, they’re going to be facing off with a trip to the Finals on the line. Its too bad they can’t play for the title, it would only be fair.
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