Regardless of who takes home the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship trophy, the Golden State Warriors’ 2015/16 season will be remembered mostly for their 73-9 regular season record, much as the 1995/96 Chicago Bulls are remembered for their 72-10 mark. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but the Warriors did more to validate themselves as champions in the last six minutes of Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals than at any time during the regular season or even during their previous title run in 2014/15. The Oklahoma City Thunder had the Warriors down by seven points with 5:48 to go in the game in perhaps the loudest building in the NBA. Much as the Warriors had fought to keep the game within reach, mostly through Klay Thompson’s heroics from beyond the three-point line, the Thunder had bullied the Warriors on the glass all evening and looked ready to finish them off. Instead, the Warriors put everything they had left in themselves, particularly on the defensive end of the court, to stop Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in their tracks and end the game with a 21-7 run, leaving the home crowd in stunned silence. Much as Stephen Curry and Co. have made the impossible look easy the last two years, it was an unbelievable sequence to watch, the details of which are recounted here:
Game 7 in Oakland on Monday. I admit to being a doubter before Game 6, and I don’t see Game 7 as anything close to a sure thing for the Warriors. Whatever happens, though, the Warriors have already convinced me to get a 73-9 commemorative T-shirt and wear it proudly. They have done more than enough to make it a season worth remembering.
– Chuck Strom
