Home and Road Warriors: NBA’s Best
April 14, 2016
Last night, April 13, the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season finished in dazzling style. In Oakland, California, the Golden State Warriors dismantled the Memphis Grizzlies 125-104. The home win was nothing new for Stephen Curry and the Warriors, who ended the year 39-2 at Oracle Arena. The Warriors played well on the road this season, too, disappointing other teams’ fans 34 out of 41 times. Golden State finished 73-9, an all-time season best, breaking the 72-10 record set 20 years ago by the seemingly invincible Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.
Last season, the Warriors went 39-2 at home as well, but they finished with an overall record of just 67-15. Masking their disappointment, the Warriors coasted through the playoffs on their way to an NBA championship. Basketball experts are banking on the Warriors repeating their championship run this year, with maybe one team standing in the way: the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, by the way, won only 67 games this year. Poor Spurs.
Last night in Los Angeles, Lakers star Kobe Bryant took the court for the final time in his flamboyant 20-year NBA career. Bryant pleased the Laker faithful by scoring 60 points in his team’s 101-96 win over the Utah Jazz. Bryant’s teammates gave him the ball nearly every possession, and he took a career-high 50 shots from the floor. Bryant ended his sure-fire hall-of-fame career with 33,643 career points, third-most in NBA history.
The Lakers bring up the other end of the NBA spectrum, however. Last night’s headline victory pushed the Lakers to a 17-65 record—their worst season ever, but not the worst in the NBA this year. That distinction fell to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers, who finished 10-72. The 76ers fell one defeat shy of breaking their own record for losses in an 82-game NBA season. The ‘Sixers went 9-73 in ’73.