Stephen Curry‘s utter excellence on Saturday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder has the Warriors at 53-5; a game ahead of the pace the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls set in their 72-10 season.
I missed all but the final 3:41 of the fourth quarter and the overtime session between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
The crazy part about that 8:41 of game action is that it was the most fun a bulk of NBA fans (including myself) have had watching a game all season.
I couldn’t wait to watch the replay the next day.
The main reason why: Wardell Stephen Curry II.
Curry scored 34 points in regulation, then scored 12 in the overtime period, including the most ridiculous game-winner many have seen in years. Curry casually pulled up from 35 feet out or so and drilled a go-ahead triple for his 12th three of the night — tying the NBA record for a single game.
Curry’s 46 points marked the sixth time in the last eight games that he’s broken the 35-point plateau in a game and in that same span, he’s averaged 36.3 points on 55.2 percent shooting.
With another win over the Thunder, the Warriors are now 53-5; one game ahead of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (52-6) at this point in the season.
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Many Bulls fans are probably rooting for the Warriors to lose every game from here on out because of their sense of pride for that great Bulls team, led by the game’s greatest player.
What’s hilarious about that is that Michael Jordan has already given Warriors guard Klay Thompson his blessing to break the Bulls mark of 72 wins in a single season.
Bulls fans aren’t the only ones that have a slight issue with the Warriors coming after the 72-win mark.
Earlier in the week, Oscar Robertson threw shade all over Stephen Curry’s accomplishments and on the coaching of the modern-day NBA at the same time.
“He’s shot well because of what’s going on in basketball today,” Robertson said during an ESPN Radio appearance. “In basketball today, it’s almost like if you can dunk or make a three-point shot, you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread.
“There have been some great shooters in the past. … But here again, when I played years ago, if you shot a shot outside and hit it, the next time I’m going to be up on top of you. I’m going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. But now they don’t do that. These coaches do not understand the game of basketball, as far as I’m concerned.”
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, a former Bulls sharpshooter during their second three-peat, had something to say after Saturday’s win on Robertson and the game’s previous greats and it was well done:
Just like many who came before Curry and the Warriors — including former Bulls coach Phil Jackson — it’s hard for them to accept the fact that the game has evolved into something they don’t really recognize and don’t associate themselves with in terms of their own legacies.
Point: The Warriors are an all-time great team and their elders are getting rather annoying talking about them. That's just my take.
— Michael Whitlow (@couldbelikemike) February 27, 2016
It’s a new day in the NBA and the Warriors are the gold standard of the NBA; just like the Bulls were during their six-title-in-eight-year span during the 1990’s.
Next: Grading the Chicago Bulls as They Fight for Their Playoff Lives
You don’t have to root for them on a nightly basis by any means. The point is to appreciate what they’re doing.
53-5.
They clinched a playoff spot in February.
Not even the Bulls from their historic season did that.
(Random stat: It was a different game 20 years ago, but Curry’s already broken his NBA record for three-pointers in a season (288) … with 24 games left in the year. The Bulls as a team hit 544 threes in that entire season.)