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. The Warriors entered the season as the defending NBA champions and set the best ever regular-season record of 73–9, breaking the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls record of 72–10.
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 Bulls team led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for the most road wins in NBA history. Warriors' head coach, Steve Kerr, has a significant connection to that Bulls team, as he previously served as a point guard 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 an NBA season (regular-season and postseason combined); with 88. However, they lost in the NBA Finals to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games, despite initially leading the series with a 3–1 advantage.
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. Their record-setting start ended when they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12, 2015. 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. 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. 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.
Steve Kerr was named Coach of the Year, the third coach in Warriors history to win the award. Stephen Curry was named Most Valuable Player for a second successive season and was the first unanimous winner in NBA history. 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).
Contents
Season synopsis
Preseason
The 2015 NBA draft took place on June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Golden State chose power forward Kevon Looney with the 30th pick of the first round. On July 27, the Warriors traded David Lee to the Boston Celtics for Gerald Wallace and Chris Babb. Four days later, Wallace was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jason Thompson.
Regular season
The Warriors opened the regular season on October 27 with assistant coach Luke Walton coaching for the team after it was confirmed that coach Steve Kerr's back would not heal in time for the beginning of the regular season. That was Luke Walton's most successful season coaching in his career. Before the opener, the Golden State Warriors revealed their first title banner in 40 years and received their championship rings during a ceremony acknowledging the 2014–15 champions. Every player on the roster, with the exception of traded player David Lee, was in attendance with also the full coaching staff to celebrate the winningest season for the franchise. Golden State opened the season with a 111–95 win over the visiting New Orleans Pelicans. In that game, Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 40 points. On their third game of the season, they were once again up against the Pelicans, this time, they were on the road. On their first meeting, Curry scored 40 points, this time, Curry scored a season-high 53 points to lead the Warriors towards their third straight win. The Warriors opened their season with four wins and a combined margin-of-victory of 100 points, surpassing the 1961–62 Boston Celtics (99 points) for the largest win-margin over the first four games. On November 4, the Warriors won their fifth straight win after handing their division rival, the LA Clippers, their first loss of the season. Curry led the Warriors with 31 points. Eight days later, the Warriors won their tenth straight game after beating the Timberwolves, recording their first ever 10–0 start in a season in franchise history. On November 17, the Warriors have won their 12th straight game to start a season with 115–110 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors. They became the first defending champions to have won their first 12 games of a season since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. Three days later, the Warriors opened up the season with a 14–0 record after beating the visiting Chicago Bulls, 106–94. They also became the first defending champions to start their season with a 14–0 record since the 1957-58 Boston Celtics. On November 24, the Warriors won at home, 111–77, against the visiting Lakers and became the first team in NBA History to start a season with a 16–0 record, besting the 15–0 record set by the 1947-48 Capitols and 1993-94 Rockets. On November 27, the Warriors set new franchise records for longest winning streak (17) and three-point field goals made (22) in a 135–116 victory over the Phoenix Suns. They also extended their streak of scoring at least 100 points in a game for 17 straight games, the first team to do since the 2009-10 Suns.
On December 5, the Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors 112–109 to improve to 21–0 and set a new record for the best start to a season in all major professional sports in America, eclipsing the 20–0 mark set by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons baseball team of the Union Association. Also, with this 11th straight road victory, the Warriors set a new franchise-record for the longest road winning streak in their history. Golden State's 131–123 win on December 8 over the Pacers in Indianapolis improved their road record to 13–0, the best such start to a season in NBA history. The win improved their overall record to 23–0. On December 11, Golden State defeated the Boston Celtics 124–119 (2OT) to improve to 24–0 and move into second place on the NBA's longest winning streaks list (28), five games behind the Los Angeles Lakers' 33-game win streak. During this game Draymond Green recorded a five-by-five game, with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks. The feat of recording at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks has only been achieved seven times by three different players (including five times by Hakeem Olajuwon). Since the 1983–84 NBA season, only 16 players have recorded a 5x5 line. The winning streak to start the season ended at 24 games when they were beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks, 108–95. The loss also ended their 28-game winning streak (dating to the 2014–15 regular season), the second-longest in NBA history. The Warriors finished the 2015 calendar year with a 72–12 (.857) record between two seasons, the second-best winning percentage in NBA history. They went 88–17 (.838) including play-off games.
Postseason
Golden State beat the Houston Rockets 121–94 on April 24 to go up 3–1 in the first round series, in doing so they set the NBA record for threes made in a playoff game, hitting 21-of-40 (.525). Steve Kerr was named Coach of the Year on April 26, the third Warriors coach to win the award after Alex Hannum in 1963–64 and Don Nelson in 1991–92. Under Kerr's leadership the Warriors led the league in scoring (114.9 points), field goal percentage (.487), three-point percentage (.416), assists (28.9), point differential (+10.8) and offensive rating (112.5 points per 100 possessions), while becoming the first team in league history to hit 1,000 three-pointers in a single season with an NBA-record 1,077 triples. Kerr held an overall regular-season record of 140–24 (.854) in his first two seasons with the Warriors. The Warriors eliminated the Houston Rockets on April 27 with a blowout victory of 114–81, winning the series 4–1 and progressing to the Western Conference Semi-finals to face the Portland Trail Blazers. Klay Thompson became the first player in NBA history to make at least seven three-pointers in consecutive playoff games.
On May 9, a 132–125 OT win over the Portland Trail Blazers put Golden State up 3–1 in the series, Steph Curry scored 40 points in his first game back after being out injured for 15 days with an MCL sprain. He scored 17 of his points in overtime, which broke the NBA record of 16 held by Gilbert Arenas for most points scored in an overtime period (regular-season or postseason). Stephen Curry was named Most Valuable Player on May 10, making it the third time a Warrior had won the award after Wilt Chamberlain won in the 1959–60 NBA season and Curry in 2014–15. Curry is the 11th player to win back-to-back MVP honors and is the first unanimous winner in NBA history with all 131 first-place votes. On May 11, the Warriors beat the Trail Blazers 125–121 in Game 5 to clinch the series and advance to the Western Conference finals for the second consecutive year, where they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the game, Curry continued his streak of making a three-pointer in every playoff game he's ever played in and tied the NBA playoff record set by Reggie Miller of 44-straight.
In their 95th and 96th games of the season, Golden State lost back-to-back games for the first time all season (105–133 and 94–118 losses to the Thunder, putting them down 1–3 in the Western Conference finals). On May 26, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were named to the 2015–16 All-NBA Team, the first time three Warriors have earned the accolade since the 1955–56 season when Neil Johnston, Paul Arizin, and Jack George were selected. Curry was unanimously selected for first team honors, Green for the second team and Thompson got third team recognition. The Warriors tied the Western Conference finals series at 3–3 on May 28, with a 108–101 road win over the Thunder. Klay Thompson made eleven three-pointers, breaking the NBA playoff record of nine. Golden State tied their franchise record for most three-pointers made in a playoff game with 21. Golden State also set a new franchise record for wins with their 84th of the season (regular-season and postseason combined), surpassing the 83 from the 2014–15 season. In Game 7, the Warriors defeated the Thunder 96–88, becoming only the 10th team (out of 233 teams) in NBA history to overcome a 3–1 series deficit. The win was their 85th of the year. It was the second time in NBA history that the defending champions came back from a 3–1 deficit in the conference finals, after the 1978–79 Washington Bullets. Golden State reached the NBA Finals for the second straight year, making this the franchise's first appearances in back-to-back NBA Finals since the 1946–47 season and 1947–48 season. The Warriors faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch of the 2015 NBA Finals.
Records
Golden State broke numerous regular-season, postseason, and franchise records this year, both as a team and individually.
NBA records
Best regular-season record: 73–9
Most wins (regular-season and postseason combined): 88 (88–18 overall record (0.830), the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls went 87–13 (.870), holding a better win percentage with only 3 postseason losses.)
Most road wins in a regular season: 34
Most road wins (regular-season and postseason combined): 38 (tied with the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls)
Best start: 24–0
Best road start: 14–0
Best start (number of losses): Golden State has the best start in NBA history for every number of losses from 0 to 9 except 3. The Warriors stand alone holding the best record in NBA history for 51 of the total 82 games in the regular season. They slipped off their record setting pace for only four games of the regular season, and were tied for the other 27 games with the pace of such championship winning teams as the 1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers, 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers, and 1995–96 Chicago Bulls.
0: 24–0 (1.000)
1: 29–1 (.967)
2: 36–2 (.947)
4: 48–4 (.923)
5: 55–5 (.917)
6: 62–6 (.912)
7: 68–7 (.907)
8: 69–8 (.896)
9: 73–9 (.890)
Longest home winning streak: 54 (dating back to 2014–15 season)
Most home wins (regular-season and postseason combined): 50 (tied with the 1985–86 and 1986–87 Boston Celtics)
Franchise records
Most home wins in a regular season: 39 (tied with 2014–15 season)
Best home start in a regular season: 36–0
Most consecutive road wins: 14
Most wins in a single month: 16 in November, 2015 (tied with March, 2015)
Best intradivisional record: 15–1 (.938) in the Pacific Division
Most assists in a regular season: 2,373 (28.9 assists per game), the 13th most in NBA history.
Most games with 30+ assists in a regular season: 43 (record was 28 set in 2014–15 season)
Point-differential per game in regular season: +10.76 (the 6th largest winning margin in NBA history)
Points per game in regular season: 114.5 (the 12th best points average per game in NBA history)
Most overtime wins in a regular season: 6 (6–1 overall record)
Most three-pointers made in a single game: 22 (against the Phoenix Suns on November 29, 2015)
Three-point field goal percentage: .416 (second best in NBA history behind the 1996–97 Charlotte Hornets' .428)
Most triple-doubles in a regular season: 13 (Draymond Green)
Regular season
Playoffs
Player statistics
Regular season
After all games.
‡ Waived during the season
† Traded during the season
≠ Acquired during the season