BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…March 7, 2016:
In the midst of a historic season, the Golden State Warriors break the NBA record for longest home winning streak, notching their 45th straight at Oracle Arena in Oakland with a 119-113 victory over the Orlando Magic. Warriors star Stephen Curry, who scored 41 points, also became the first player in NBA history to make 300 three-pointers in a season that night. Golden State surpassed the Chicago Bulls' 44 straight regular-season home wins in 1995-96. The streak would reach 54 games before being snapped by the Boston Celtics about four weeks later.
“History” and “Golden State” were synonymous that season. The Warriors compiled the NBA’s best regular season record ever at 73-9, breaking another Bulls standard (72-10 in that 1995-96 campaign). Steve Kerr the coach was one win better than Steve Kerr the player. Overall, the defending NBA champions had won their first 24 games of the season, shattering the previous mark of 15. Golden State was the first team in NBA history to go an entire regular season without back-to-back losses.
The Warriors broke more than 25 NBA records that season, another of which was most combined wins between the regular season and playoffs: 88 of ‘em. They also amassed the most road wins in league history with 34. Kerr was NBA Coach of the Year and Curry the Most Valuable Player. But there was another record that threw cold water on that season. In June of 2016, Golden State became the first team to blow a three games-to-one lead in the NBA Finals when LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for the championship.
Curry ended the season with a record 402 threes. He has since topped the 300 mark in three-pointers three more times — the last time two years ago. Curry, who just returned to the Warriors lineup after missing 11 games with a left leg injury, currently sits at 3,307 career treys, the most in NBA history. You know that James broke the NBA career scoring record four weeks ago. James’ current haul is 38,450 points. Curry’s current total puts that amazing feat in perspective, as he presently has 21,210 career points.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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