There are so many numbers, stats and factoids that illustrate just how dominant the Warriors have been over the past two years. Of course, there is last year's championship and this year's gaudy win-loss record. They've also dropped just two games at home this season after winning their previous 54.
The most impressive Warriors streak is finally over
The Warriors had won the last 114 times they built a lead of 15 points or more. That streak is now finally over, but what a streak it was.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
But there was also this amazing stat that speaks to their dominance. Prior to Tuesday's loss to the Timberwolves, the Warriors won 114 consecutive games in which they held a lead of at least 15 points at any point in the game. That streak spanned nearly two years before it was broken by the Timberwolves, who were able to erase a 17-point deficit and knock off Golden State in overtime, 124-117. That number is one that only two other teams in NBA history have come close to matching.
If I was asleep when the Warriors lost after leading by 15+, did the streak really end? pic.twitter.com/nkIP60rxgs
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) April 6, 2016
Teams can’t hold big leads without building them, and no one is better at pummeling opponents than Golden State. They lead the league in three-pointers made, three-point shooting percentage and percentage of points off three-pointers. They also play at the league’s second-fastest pace. Three-point barrages like this are therefore fairly common.
But teams build double-digit leads all the time in the NBA. Holding on to it and constantly making opposing NBA teams look like JV squads for 48 minutes are feats that only a handful of teams in NBA history have been able to pull off repeatedly.
It’s a cliché to say the NBA is a game of runs, but that generally holds true. NBA teams build leads and then often give them up. That’s what happens when everyone on the court is one of the 400 best basketball players in the world. Big leads disappear even more frequently when held by offenses built around long-range bombs like the Warriors’. Those looks are most prone to cold stretches and most likely to lead to opposing fast breaks.
That’s why the Warriors’ big leads streak was particularly impressive. To keep those margins, they were required to be well-rounded and consistent. Their jumpers needed to keep coming off clean looks and not morph into lazy chucks. The defense had to remain strong and the effort could never dissipate. To do what the Warriors did and consistently maintain that energy and attention to detail for such a long stretch is something the league has almost never seen. The only way to pull that off is to be ruthlessly competitive and view even the most mundane regular-season games like they matter.
The Warriors did and do, which is what what turned them into the wrecking ball that they are and made their streak so striking. They have perfected an explosive and deadly style of basketball. They have the league MVP, a wonderful scheme and a plethora of versatile and talented athletes whose games all perfectly gel.
Most of all, though, they have that Jordan-like killer instinct. By and large, they care about surpassing the Bulls' 72-win mark. They enjoy doling out finishing blows -- think about how often Curry responds to the simmering roar of his home crowd with a pull-up dagger from 30 feet. They take pride in never letting trailing teams come back.
That’s why the streak finally ending is no big deal. NBA teams are really good and most NBA players have at least some pride. It’s hard to go on multi-year streaks like this one. Eventually, someone was going to come back on Golden State.
That one finally did doesn’t mean something is fundamentally wrong with the defending champs. It just means that math and the basic laws of basketball finally caught up with them. It happens to everyone, even the best of the best.
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