So close, yet so far.
Just one win away from capturing the NBA's most coveted crown for the second year in a row, the Golden State Warriors — the team that put together the winningest regular season in league history — have come up short.
With one of the most monumental losses in Finals history in the books, and nothing left but the sour smell of the champagne-soaked floors of the visiting locker rooms at Oracle Arena, we take a look back to where it all started, from the opening tip of the Warriors' 2015-16 season to the utter disappointment of the Finals.
The celebration
Date: October 27, 2015
Recap: The championship banner was raised, players were given their rings, and the Warriors — just four months removed from the franchise's first NBA title in 40 years — took the floor on opening night with something to prove. They beat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-95 behind 40 points from MVP Stephen Curry and sent a message to the league's 29 other teams in the process: They weren't going anywhere.
The 16-0 start
Date: November 24, 2015
Recap: After matching the previous record set by the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets for the best start in NBA history at 15-0, the Warriors trounced the Los Angeles Lakers 111-77 of to set their own record of 16-0. But it was only the beginning ...
The end of a run
Date: December 12, 2015
Recap: The most dominant start in league history had to come to an end at some point, didn't it? After extending their 16-0 start to 24-0, the Warriors — playing the final game of a brutal seven-game road stretch — were finally handed a loss. With the 108-95 win, the Milwaukee Bucks became the first team in 186 days to beat the NBA champions.
The rematch
Date: December 25, 2015
Recap: The highly-anticipated 2015 Finals rematch finally happened on Christmas Day, and the Warriors — who entered the game with the best record in league history through 28 games (27-1) — had no plans of letting LeBron James and the Cavaliers exact their revenge. The defending champs snuck by with an 89-83 win in a knock-down drag-out defensive battle, led by Draymond Green's 22 points and 15 rebounds.
The return
Date: January 22, 2016
Recap: As if the Warriors winning 39 of their first 43 games wasn't impressive enough, they did it without head coach Steve Kerr on the sidelines as a result of complications from two offseason back surgeries. When he made his return and interim head coach Luke Walton slid back to assistant, the team didn't lose a step, and it all started with a 122-110 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
The visit
Date: February 4, 2016
Recap: A day after Curry manhandled the Washington Wizards (51 points, 11-of-15 from three) in the nation's capital, the Warriors took a trip to the White House for an honorary championship ceremony with President Barack Obama, who shed light on just how important the NBA's golden boys are to the game of basketball.
“The point is, this is a great basketball team, but it’s a great organization, it’s a great culture,” he said. “And these are outstanding young men. They’re the kind of people you want representing a city, representing the NBA, and the kind of people that you want our kids to be rooting for.”
Of course, they had a little fun, too.
The shot heard 'round the NBA
Date: February 27, 2016
Recap: If there was a single definitive moment from the regular season that represented just how absurd Curry's reign of terror from beyond the arc has been — this was it. With just a few seconds left in the first overtime of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and with the score tied at 118, Curry took three dribbles to just beyond mid-court, fired up a prayer from 30-plus feet and watched his shot splash home with 0.6 seconds to go. The shot gave him 46 points on the night, tied the individual NBA record for three-pointers in a single game with 12, and gave the Warriors a thrilling come-from-behind victory. Did we mention that, with 24 games still left on the schedule, the three-point prayer broke his own record for three-pointers made in a season (288), too?
The NBA Twitter-verse responded accordingly.
The three-point record
Date: March 26, 2016
Recap: Not only did the Warriors become just the second team in NBA history to win 65 games in two consecutive seasons with their 128-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks, but they brought their three-point total to 938 makes on the season, passing the previous mark of 933 set by the Houston Rockets the year before.
The 73rd win
Date: April 13, 2016
Recap: With their 125-104 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on the final night of the season, the Warriors reached what was once thought to be unreachable: 73 wins, passing the previous record of 72 set by the Michael Jordan-led 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls. Curry knocked down 10 three-pointers on the night to finish the season with 402 makes, a whopping 116 more than the previous record.
The injury
Date: April 24, 2016
Recap: After returning from a two-game absence with an ankle injury, Curry suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in Game 4 of the Western Conference first-round series against the Rockets. Dub Nation watched nervously as he limped to the locker room, and although the Warriors went on to win the game to take a 3-1 series lead, the status of their almighty point guard still hung in the balance.
The second MVP
Date: May 10, 2016
Recap: After returning from his first-round injury in top form in the second round against the Portland Trail Blazers, Curry was once again given the NBA's highest individual honor for the second consecutive year. He finished the the regular season with averages of:
- 30.1 points (1st in NBA)
- 6.7 assists (10th in NBA)
- 5.4 rebounds (3rd amongst point guards)
- 2.1 steals (1st in NBA)
- 50.4% shooting (1st amongst point guards)
- 45.4% three-point shooting (3rd in NBA)
- 90.8% free throw shooting (1st in NBA)
Not only did he join the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Steve Nash as just the fourth guard in league history to win the award in back-to-back years, Curry became the first player to ever to win the award by unanimous decision.
The comeback
Date: May 30, 2016
Recap: Down 3-1 in the Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors were one game away from watching their historic journey come to an end in heartbreaking fashion at the hands of the Thunder. Only nine of 232 teams down 3-1 in NBA history were able to come back and win the series, but the Warriors did just that. First was a 120-111 win at home in Game 5, then a 108-101 win led by Klay Thompson's 41-point outburst, and finally, back on the hallowed grounds of Oracle Arena, a 96-88 win to put the lid on what had the potential to be one of the greatest postseason runs in NBA history by the Thunder.
The slip up
Date: June 16, 2016
Recap: Up 3-1 in the series with a close-out Game 5 at Oracle Arena, the Warriors had the NBA championship at their fingertips. Then James and Kyrie Irving happened. Behind the high-powered dynamic duo, the Cavs won back-to-back games to tie up the series at three games apiece and force a do-or-die Game 7.
The imperfect ending
Date: June 19, 2016
Recap: The stage was set, the stakes couldn't have been higher, and the Warriors couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to end one of the most storied seasons in league history. All they had to do was outplay the Cavaliers for 48 minutes and the Larry O'Brien Trophy was theirs. That was a task that proved too tough, and when the final buzzer echoed through the silent confines of Oracle Arena, the Warriors' near-perfect season came to an imperfect end.
Follow AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK
