The Warriors play their final games of 2015 this week, and oh, what a year it was.
For the week of Monday, Dec. 28 – Sunday, Jan. 3
Record: 2-0
To say that 2015 has been a great year for the Golden State Warriors would be the ultimate understatement of the last 12 months. ‘Great’ is far too weak an adjective to do it justice. Like everything else the Warriors are doing these days, the Dubs have made their 2015 one of the most successful calendar years in the history of all major professional sports, and particularly in the NBA. After adding two more victories last week, the Warriors currently sit at 28-1 on the season with three games left to play before the calendar flips to January. Add that record to their 42-10 record in regular season games from January through April of last season, plus their 16-5 record in playoff games on their way to the Championship in June, and what you get is an obscene ledger of 86-16 (.843) in games in 2015. If that number jumps off the page, well, it should. Only the Chicago Bulls, who went 89-14 in 1996, have posted a higher win total over a full calendar year than the Warriors have in 2015, and the Dubs still have three more games left to play. Even if you exclude postseason games - of which the Warriors played more than teams of the past due to expanded series lengths - the Warriors still have a chance to pull within one victory of that same Bulls team for the most regular season wins in a calendar year in NBA history (74). So while hearing the Warriors are setting or encroaching upon league records is nothing out of the ordinary lately, the final days of 2015 offer us all a chance to look back and reflect on the incredible year that was. And, if the teams’ intentions for 2016 are any indication, the Dubs might not slow down anytime soon. When asked what his New Year’s resolution would be prior to Monday’s game against the Kings, Andrew Bogut confessed, “Keep winning. Don’t lose.”
You’ll have to forgive the big Aussie for a lack of resolution creativity, since winning seems to be the only thing on the Warriors’ mind in the recent past, present, and upcoming future. That much was apparent in their Christmas Day victory over the Cavs, their first rematch with the team they dispatched from the Finals this past June. In an electric atmosphere that could easily qualify as playoff-like, the Warriors reverted to their postseason style, in which defense and competition are prioritized over all else. The result was a performance reminiscent of their three-straight victories that closed out that Finals series and awarded the Bay Area their first Championship in four decades. The Warriors held the fully healthy Cavs to season-lows in points (83), field goal percentage (.316) and three-point field goal percentage (.167), which proved necessary since Cleveland held Golden State to their own season-low of 89 points. It was a playoff-like game featuring two extremely playoff-worthy opponents, and didn’t fail to live up to the hype as the marquee game thus far of the NBA season. The Warriors still have a tremendously long way to go before a Finals rematch could become a reality, but if they play in 2016 like they have in 2015, it certainly wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.
Standout Spotlight: Draymond Green
It’s always going to be an incredibly tough task to steal the spotlight in a game in which Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving all play, but that’s exactly what Draymond Green did on Friday, and he retains the Spotlight now. He recorded his fifth 20/10 game of the season with 22 points and a season-high 15 rebounds in that game, while contributing seven assists and his usual lockdown defense. He’s been called the heartbeat of the team, but even that might be selling his contributions short. He posted averages of 18.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.0 blocks per game in the two victories last week, shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point land. He’s recorded at least nine rebounds in each of the last 13 games, ranks eighth in the NBA and first among all frontcourt players with 7.1 assists per game, trails Curry by only 13 points for the best individual plus-minus in the league, and has to be one of the leading early season candidates for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s already deserving of a spot in the upcoming All-Star Game, and if he keeps this up, he’s going to find himself in a much bigger spotlight, much more often.
The Week Ahead:
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and that will be the case as the Warriors say goodbye to 2015 with their final three games of the calendar year this week. They’ll tip off the week tonight with a home game against the Sacramento Kings, when the Dubs will look to improve their winning streak over their Northern California rivals to 11 straight games. After that, the Warriors will head to Texas for a set of two games in back-to-back nights. On Wednesday, they’ll take on the Dallas Mavericks for the first time this season, before reigniting their rivalry with the Rockets in Houston on Thursday night. Then, the Warriors will look to close out the week and start the new year on a high note when they host the Denver Nuggets at Oracle Arena on Saturday in the first game of 2016. Golden State will play as many games in the next six days as they have in the previous two weeks combined, so while fatigue may be a factor, the timing could be right for another long string of victories.
Till next week.
The Dish has been served.