The Warriors were going to lose at some point. No team has gone 82-0 and no team ever will. It's just impossible with the grueling NBA schedule. The Bucks deserve the credit for beating Golden State at home 108-95 but had the Warriors gotten a day off after beating the Celtics on Friday instead of flying to Milwaukee to play on Saturday, they might still be undefeated.
NBA scores 2015: The Warriors’ streak was unique and beautiful
The Warriors’ perfect start ended in Milwaukee. Now it’s time to appreciate its greatness.
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
No one will cry about a perfect start being spoiled, though, and no one should. The good thing about the streak being over is that we now get to appreciate it.
The Warriors had the best start ever for an NBA team and it wasn't close. Before they took it, the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets shared the record at just 15-0. Golden State shattered a milestone that had gone untouched for more than 20 years by nine whole games. Take a moment to appreciate the uniqueness of what we just witnessed.
The Warriors didn't just go 249 days without losing. They won a ring and came back the following season posting an even better scoring margin than the historically great one they logged in their championship season. Golden State had some close calls before finally losing but they have largely dominated their competition. They destroyed the Grizzlies by 50 and scored 130 points or more three times. When they were healthy and in rhythm, they were truly unbeatable.
Yet the numbers, as gaudy as they are, fail to encapsulate what made the streak special: how fun it was.
It all starts with Stephen Curry. He simply changes the way we watch the game. Blink for a second as you get ready for the buildup of a play and you might miss a go-ahead three-pointer from 26 feet out.
Then there's Klay Thompson, who hit 10 threes in a game and made it look easy.
HALF of #KlayThompson's first half treys on @csnauthentic & @nbatv https://t.co/Vq2WvffFnj
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) December 9, 2015 The glue holding it all together during these 25 games has been Draymond Green, who dug deep in the second overtime on Friday in Boston to keep the streak going one more night.
There are countless other moments during the Warriors’ perfect start that stand out as special, because that team is special.
Now the streak is over and the focus will finally shift from Golden State to other storylines. Anyone who was paying attention, however, will always remember this season as the one in which Stephen Curry and the Warriors made the impossible happen every night. And for that, we should be thankful.
SB Nation presents: Stephen Curry is literally a video game
3 other things we learned
The Spurs' defense is scary good
The Spurs added a 20-point per game scorer in LaMarcus Aldridge in the offseason, so they were supposed to improve on offense. Instead, it's their defense that makes them Golden State's biggest threat in the West. On Friday they held the Hawks — who were averaging 101 points per game — to just 25 first-half points. They ended the night with 78 on 38-percent shooting from the floor and 21 percent from beyond the arc.
San Antonio leads the league in defensive efficiency and is not even close. They are allowing 92 points per 100 possessions while the second-ranked team — the Heat — average more than 96. That's the different between the Heat and the 12th-ranked Raptors. The Spurs are just as dominant defensively as the Warriors are offensively. Their Jan. 25 matchup can't come soon enough.
The East’s second tier is crowded
The Pistons (13-11 going into Saturday's game) and the Pacers (12-9) went at it in Detroit, with the home team claiming an easy victory, 118-96. The Bulls (13-8) beat the Pelicans and climbed to the conference's third-best record thanks to a loss by the Hornets (14-9) to the Celtics (14-10). There's a one-game difference between those five squads as well as the Heat and the Hawks.
Cleveland is the best team in the East. There’s no doubt about that. The Raptors are quietly emerging as a potential second-best team but they are not there yet. Below them, there are eight teams over .500 that could have easily made the playoffs in past seasons. In a couple of months, maybe the standings will give us a clear picture of which are the true good teams in the conference but so far, it’s impossible to tell.
The Rockets are making a push
The Rockets started out the season terribly. The front office fired coach Kevin McHale hoping to give the team a push but it didn't happen, at least not immediately. The Rockets went on a three-game losing streak that got them five games below .500 before barely beating the lowly 76ers and edging out the Knicks in overtime. Now they are 12-12 after destroying the Lakers 126-97 on Saturday.
James Harden, who finished with 30 points against Los Angeles, is finally scoring efficiently after a rough start. Dwight Howard (18 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks on Saturday) is anchoring a slowly improving defense and is back to being an asset offensively and Donatas Motiejunas' return has offered some much needed depth in the front court. Houston is not close to being a contender but is not looking doomed to the lottery, as it did the first weeks of the season.
Play of the night
Reggie Jackson is a good player but is not considered a high-flyer. That's probably why the Pacers looked so surprised when he exploded for a big dunk.
The Pacers didn’t know Reggie Jackson had hops like that. Now they know.
4 fun things
Final scores
Clippers 105, Nets 100 (Clips Nation recap | Nets Daily recap)
Celtics 98, Hornets 93 (Celtics Blog recap | At the Hive recap)
Pistons 118, Pacers 96 (Detroit Bad Boys recap | Indy Cornrows recap)
Spurs 103, Hawks 78 (Pounding the Rock recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)
Bulls 98, Pelicans 94 (Blog a Bull recap | The Bird Writes recap)
Rockets 126, Lakers 97 (The Dream Shake recap | Silver Screen and Roll recap)
Wizards 114, Mavericks 111 (Bullets Forever recap | Mavs Moneyball recap)
Bucks 108, Warriors 95 (Brew Hoop recap | Golden State of Mind recap)
Knicks 112, Trail Blazers 110 (Posting and Toasting recap | Blazer's Edge recap)
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