While the best of the
best teams in college basketball are colliding with each other to determine the
national colligate champion, the future 2016 NBA champions go head to head tonight.
Forget about any (L)eastern time seizing the title this year.
The Golden State
Warriors are poised to win back to back championships, but the San Antonio
Spurs my thwart those plans. When the two teams clash in Texas tonight, a
streak will continue, or be broken for either team. The Warriors have not won
in San Antonio since 1997, when Stephen Curry was 8-years-0ld. This fact is
from Comcast Sports Network. The Spurs are 32-0 at home against the Warriors in
that span.
Currently both teams
have yet to lose two games in a row all season, a feat no NBA team has
accomplished in a single season. (CSN) The five time champion Spurs are having
the best season of their illustrious career with a 34-0 home record, and the team’s
58-10 mark is its best start ever.
Something has to give,
The Warriors set the all-time NBA record this year with 50 straight wins at
home in the regular season which started last year. The Warriors are the only
professional team in all four major sports to achieve the 50 game home winning
streak. (Baseball, basketball, football and hockey; CSN). The Warriors are
currently 32-0 at the Oracle Arena. If the Warriors close out the season with
an 11-3 record or better, the team will set another NBA record for most wins in
one season.
Since its inaugural
season in 1946, no NBA team has finished a season unbeaten at home and this
year, both the Spurs and Warriors are only 14 games away from doing so. The
Warriors have nine more home games while the Spurs have seven left including
tonight’s game.
The Spurs 5th
championship was a mere two years ago, and when the team lost to the Los
Angeles Clippers, 4 games to 3 in last year’s playoffs, many people, including
LeBron James said the Warriors were lucky to win the title last season because
they didn’t have to face the Spurs in the playoffs. Extremely unlikely that
will happen this year.
Last Easter, the Spurs
walloped the Warriors 107-92 in Texas which snapped a Warrior 12 game winning
streak at the time. In January the Warriors returned the favor, smashing the
Spurs at home 120-90.
The powers that be
have clearly stated the importance of home court advantage, and the Warriors,
despite their incredible 62-6 record have a mere four game lead over the Spurs
for home court advantage thought the playoffs.
The Warriors have had
so many blow-out wins this year, and that is why the team will win another
title, their starters get plenty of rest. Stephen Curry has not played in 18
fourth quarters this year (CSN) and his partner in crime, Draymond Green is the
only Warrior in the league who’s in the top 20 in minutes played. Green is 18th
on that list. (CSN)
When these two teams
meet in the Western Conference finals, the Warriors must always be wary of the
Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard. I so wish Leonard was a Warrior, he is not in a
class by himself, but roll call is very quick, and the same can be said for
that one guy on the Warriors.
