NBA: Top 5 Biggest surprises from the 2015-16 Season
The 2015-16 NBA season featured some of the biggest surprises in recent memory. From heroes to heels, from Cinderella stories to deep busts, this season had a bit of everything.
Bookmakers in Vegas must be scratching their heads at the unpredictability of it all. Teams which were expected to tank ended up resiliently marching to the playoffs. Victory was snatched from the very jaws of defeat. Players broke the conceptions of what was regarded as feasible. In general, the unexpected happened time and time again.
Here's a look at the five most surprising story-lines from the 2015-16 season:
#1 Golden State Warriors go 73-9
The Golden State Warriors may not have won the championship, but they succeeded in accomplishing the impossible in the regular season. Bill Simmons had mentioned 10 records which will never be broken in his Book of Basketball. One of the records was the 72-10 season record of the Chicago Bulls in 1995-96 season.
That Bulls team won 18 games in a row at one point. Defense was their calling card. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin led a defense so tenacious that it was called the Doberman defense. They would not let the opponents breathe.
The Warriors made a splash with the Splash Brothers who absolutely killed it from downtown. Establishing a lethal version of small ball, the 2015-16 Warriors broke over 25 NBA records this season.
The Warriors set the tone early by storming out of the gate with 24 wins in a row, and they never let up. They faced the Memphis Grizzlies in the final game of the season to win 73 games. Stephen Curry hit 10 of 19 three-pointers in that game to score 46 points and cap off a season for the books.
There have been many teams which attempted to chase 72 wins, but for some reason or another they came up short. The closest anyone ever came to it was 69 wins by the 1972 Lakers and 1997 Bulls. The unbelievable record set by the Warriors will probably never be broken.