Warriors notch NBA milestone as Cavs, Spurs upset

Photo credit from: topbet.eu/:GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS VS. SAN ANTONIO SPURS PREDICTIONS, PICKS AND NBA PREVIEW – MARCH 19, 2016

The Golden State Warriors notched another milestone win in a season full of them as the teams reckoned most likely to challenge their NBA dominance -- Cleveland and San Antonio -- endured upset defeats.

One day after they were humbled by the lowly Lakers in Los Angeles, the Warriors on Monday rebounded with a 119-113 victory over the Orlando Magic to stretch their regular-season home winning streak to an NBA record 45 games.

The Warriors haven't lost on their home floor in Oakland, California, since January 27, 2015, and improved on the record of 44 straight home triumphs set by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls over the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

The Magic tested Golden State's resolve, closing within two points at 111-109 with 1:13 remaining. But Thompson turned a broken play into his fifth three-pointer with 52.5 seconds left and the Warriors held on for the win.

Photo credit from:americansportshistory.com/: History Now: Klay Thompson and The NBA Record For Most Points and 3-Pointers In A Single Quarter

The celebration that ensued was a far cry from the post-mortems being conducted by Cleveland and San Antonio.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers were shocked 106-103 by the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies in Cleveland.

San Antonio had their eight-game winning streak snapped as they fell 99-91 to the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wasn't on the sideline to see his team's first defeat at Indiana since the 2006-07 season, missing the contest attending to a family medical matter.

"It was a rough night shooting for us," said assistant coach Ettore Messina, who filled in for Popovich. "We were just not as sharp as we could have been."

Eastern Conference leaders Cleveland surely hoped for better in their last home game before a six-game road trip.

Tony Allen returned from a knee injury to score a season-high 26 points for a Memphis team missing five regulars -- including their top trio of Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Zach Randolph.

Photo credit from: hoopshabit.com/: Tony Allen: The Best Perimeter Defender In The NBA

The Cavaliers committed a season-high 25 turnovers, unable to apply any real pressure until the fourth quarter.

"I don't care who you're playing," James said. "It could be my son's little league team and you're going to lose when you give up that many turnovers just from carelessness."

Cleveland's Kyrie Irving did have a chance to force overtime, but his three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim.

From there the teams traded the lead four times before Memphis put it away.

Allen beat James on a jump ball in the final minute and Cleveland's Matthew Dellavedova was whistled for an off-the-ball foul during a Memphis inbounds pass, giving the Grizzlies one shot and possession.

James finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. No doubt it was little consolation that in taking his career points total to 26,406 he moved past John Havlicek for 13th place on the all-time scoring list.

Photo credit from: sports.yahoo.com/: LeBron James, Stephen Curry collide in dream NBA finals showdown

It was a frantic finish in New Orleans, where Anthony Davis scored 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Pelicans erased a 17-point second-half deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings 115-112.

In Chicago, Pau Gasol's triple-double of 12 points 17 rebounds and 13 assists helped make up for the absence of Jimmy Butler in the Bulls' 100-90 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Did You Know?

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
The Warriors have reached eight NBA Finals, winning four NBA championships in 1947, 1956, 1975 and most recently in 2015 when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State's four NBA championships are the fifth most in history behind only the Boston Celtics (17), Los Angeles Lakers (16), Chicago Bulls (6) and San Antonio Spurs (5). Wilt Chamberlain and Stephen Curry have both been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player while playing for the Warriors, for a total of three MVP awards. Golden State holds the NBA record for the best regular season with 73–9 and most combined wins in a season (regular season and postseason) with 88 wins.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS

Photo Credit From: wallpapersdsc.net/: San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are one of four former American Basketball Association (ABA) teams to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA–NBA merger and the only former ABA team to have won an NBA championship. The Spurs' five NBA championships are the fourth most in history behind only the Boston Celtics (17), Los Angeles Lakers (16), and Chicago Bulls (6). The Spurs currently rank first among active franchises for the highest winning percentage in NBA history, and have a winning head-to-head regular season record against every active NBA franchise.
In their 38 NBA seasons since 1976–1977, the Spurs have won 20 division titles. They have made the playoffs in 24 of the last 25 seasons (since 1989–1990) and have only missed the playoffs four times since entering the NBA; they have not missed the playoffs in the 19 seasons since Tim Duncan was drafted by the Spurs in 1997. With their 50th win in the 2015–2016 season, the Spurs extended their record for most consecutive 50+ win seasons to 17 (the 1998–99 season was shortened to 50 games because of a lockout and based on their win percentage of .740, would have easily surpassed 50 wins in an 82-game season, and thus extend the record by 2 more seasons). Thus, since the 1997–98 season, the Spurs have had 19 consecutive seasons with a winning percentage of .610 or greater during the regular season which is also an NBA record.

SOURCES:

sports.yahoo.com/: Warriors notch NBA milestone as Cavs, Spurs upset
en.wikipedia.org/: Golden State Warriors
en.wikipedia.org/: San Antonio Spurs