On a Wednesday night in raucous Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, the inspired Golden State Warriors beat the wounded Memphis Grizzlies 125-104, to win their 73rd game of the year. Their magnanimous victory came on the final regular season contest, and the defending world champions surpassed the Chicago Bulls' all-time record of 72-10 in 1996.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a key role player for the Bulls championship team in '96 said, "I thought (72 wins) was like (Joe) DiMaggio's hit streak, and I was wrong. I will say the same thing now that I said 20 years ago. I don't think this one will ever be broken. Somebody's got to go 74-8 and I don't see it. I hope our fans aren't expecting that next year."
GS All-Star guard and 2015 MVP Stephen Curry had 46 points, including 10 three-pointers (six in the first quarter). Curry finished 2016 with 402 threes, breaking his own record of 286 last year. He won the scoring title for the second consecutive year - increasing his average by 6.3 points, another record, surpassing Larry Bird, who upped his previous year's scoring title by 3.8 points per game.
When asked to compare the '96 Bulls and his current team. Curry said, "The game has evolved a lot and we have our certain identity of how we play. Shooting at a high level, moving the ball, everybody has a role. We have fun doing it. I don't know specifically any differences, but one similarity is we love winning, we love to compete and we love to push ourselves. That's what pushed us to the opportunity we had tonight."
After the history-making triumph, Warriors All-Star forward Draymond Green snatched the game ball at center court. Green said, "73 wins means I'm a part of the best team ever. Not many people can say that. 15 guys can say that, and that's amazing." But he also said, "relief doesn't happen until you win a championship."
In a congratulatory statement Wednesday night, Bulls legend Michael Jordan said, "The game of basketball is always evolving and records are made to be broken. The Warriors have been a lot of fun to watch and I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs." Earlier in the month, Green said Jordan told him he hopes Golden State breaks the Bulls record.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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