2015–16 Golden State Warriors season
NBA professional basketball team season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2015–16 Golden State Warriors season was the 70th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 54th in the San Francisco Bay Area.[2] The Warriors entered the season as the defending NBA champions and they set the best ever regular-season record of 73–9, breaking the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls record of 72–10.[3] Golden State broke their franchise record of 28 road wins in a season which they set in 2014–15; they ended the season with 34, passing the same 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for the most road wins in NBA history.[4] Warriors' head coach, Steve Kerr, has a significant connection to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, as he previously served as a point guard for the team during that specific season. Throughout the 2015-16 NBA season, Golden State broke over twenty-five NBA records and more than ten franchise records, including most wins ever recorded in a NBA season (regular-season and postseason combined); with 88.[4][5][6][7][8] However, they were defeated in the NBA Finals by the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games, having lost the series despite initially leading with a 3-1 advantage.[9]
2015–16 Golden State Warriors season | |||
---|---|---|---|
Conference champions | |||
Division champions | |||
Head coach | Steve Kerr Luke Walton[lower-alpha 1] (interim) | ||
General manager | Bob Myers | ||
Owners | Peter Guber Joe Lacob | ||
Arena | Oracle Arena | ||
Results | |||
Record | 73–9 (.890) | ||
Place | Division: 1st (Pacific) Conference: 1st (Western) | ||
Playoff finish | NBA Finals (lost to Cavaliers 3–4) | ||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||
Local media | |||
Television | Comcast SportsNet Bay Area | ||
Radio | KNBR | ||
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The Warriors began the 2015–16 season by winning their first 24 games, eclipsing the previous best start in NBA history, set by the 1993–94 Houston Rockets and the 1948–49 Washington Capitols at 15–0.[3][10] Their record-setting start ended when they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12, 2015.[11] The Warriors broke a 131-year-old record of 20–0 set by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons baseball team, to claim the best start to a season in all of the major professional sports in America. They also won 28 consecutive regular-season games dating back to the 2014–15 season, eclipsing the 2012–13 Miami Heat for the second longest winning streak in NBA history.[3] The Warriors also set an NBA record 54-straight regular-season home-game winning streak, which spanned from January 31, 2015, to March 29, 2016. The previous record of 44 was held by the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls.[12] The Warriors also became the first team in NBA history to go the entire regular season without back-to-back losses and without losing to the same team twice.[13]
Steve Kerr was named Coach of the Year, the third coach in Warriors history to win the award.[1] Stephen Curry was named Most Valuable Player for a second successive season and was the first unanimous winner in NBA history.[14] Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were all named to the All-Star Game, the first time the Warriors have had three All-Stars since 1976. Along with the All-Star selection, Klay Thompson was also named to the All-NBA Third Team. Draymond Green was named to the All-NBA Second Team while also being selected as an All-Star. Green was named to the All-Defensive First Team and he finished in second place in DPOY voting with 44 first-place votes. Andre Iguodala finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting with 33 first-place votes. Curry broke his own NBA record for made three-pointers in a season of 286, finishing with 402. Curry won the scoring title, averaging 30.1 points per game and led the league in steals and had the best free throw percentage. He became the seventh player to enter the 50–40–90 club (he shot 50% for field goals, 45% for three-pointers and 91% for free throws during the entire regular season).