Maybe the music wasn’t blaring through the speakers at Oracle Arena, but it must have been playing through the heads of the Golden State Warriors as they walked off the court after beating the San Antonio Spurs: “Allow me to reintroduce myself…”
Pardon the Jay-Z reference, but you couldn’t help but wonder how much satisfaction the reigning champions derived from reminding the NBA that the throne doesn’t just reside in the Bay, it’s bolted to the Oakland ground.
A team which had gone a collective 107-19 over the past year-and-a-half, won the title, boasted the league’s MVP and were on pace to break the all-time single-season win total record of 72 victories headed into a match-up with San Antonio that was billed as the battle of the best.
Based on a combined winning percentage of .886, the meeting between the previously 40-4 Warriors and 38-6 Spurs was in fact the best regular-season encounter in NBA history by two teams at least 40 games into a campaign.
The rumblings that San Antonio had closed the gap since Golden State’s 24-0 start and were now the 1B to the champions’ 1A was warranted.
Through 44 games, the Spurs had the best point differential in league history, outscoring their opponents by a total of 638 points. For as beautiful and fluid as their offence is rightfully known, it’s been their unreal defence which has been their ultimate strength as they had allowed an NBA-low average of 89.8 points before facing the Warriors. San Antonio had also won 13 straight and lost only twice in the past 20 games, compared to three defeats for Golden State.
So we were made to wait until the end of January for the mouth-watering matchup, only for the Warriors to turn it into a clinical affair as if they were playing any other team on any other day.
Golden State shredded the league’s top defence for 120 points on 51.8 per cent shooting, including 42.3 per cent on 3-pointers. The Spurs had no answer for Stephen Curry, who scored 37 points in 28 minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Not even Kawhi Leonard, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, could check the sharpshooting savant. Like many who have tried and failed, Leonard uncharacteristically turned into a pile of bones after getting his ankles broken by Curry on one particular play that’s been looped endlessly on Vine in the aftermath.
#Warriors Stephen Curry shakes up #Spurs Kawhi Leonard and nails a 3 pic.twitter.com/VBo70xOdOO
— EverydayPlays (@EverydayPIays) January 26, 2016But the Warriors’ offensive brilliance wasn’t limited to one-on-one moments of magic from Curry. Golden State continuously burned San Antonio on back cuts, taking advantage of overzealous defence that no team can be blamed for employing against Curry and Co.
Oh, and Tim Duncan’s absence? It’s hard to imagine his presence would have made 30 points worth of difference.
Time and time again, the Warriors have proved there is no answer to the question of how you stop them – at least none realised in this universe. Defence wins championships, the cliche goes, but no one told the person who came up with that phrase that basketball wizardry exists.
After his team lost for the first time in a month, Manu Ginobili was honest in assessing where they stack up against Golden State.
“At this point they’re better than us,” he said.
At this point, the Warriors may be better than anyone. Ever.
