Warriors Clinch Division Title
39 years is a long time for anything. It’s especially long when it is the amount of time since a team last won its division title.
The Golden State Warriors, who have been buried behind the greatness of many teams in the Pacific Division — the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle SuperSonics (both previously members of the Pacific Division), even the historically bad Los Angeles Clippers in recent years — are no longer looking up in the standings.
For the first time since the 1975-76 NBA season, the Warriors are on top of their division.
The Warriors clinched the division last night after defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 122-108.
After trailing at halftime by five, the Warriors took over, outscoring the Blazers 36-18 in the third quarter. Curry led the charge with 13 points and four assists in the period — on his way to 33 and 10 in the game, accounting for nine of his teammates points. He was aided by Draymond Green, who added five of his 14 points and five his eight total assists. Andrew Bogut also had strong third quarter, contributing six of his 10 points and nine of his game-high 16 rebounds.
After the victory, one might not have known that the Warriors had not accomplished this feat in over 30 years, as the celebration was limited to music in the locker room and t-shirts that read, “Pacific Claimed.”
The team’s star didn’t seem to mind. “We might be a little subdued,” Curry said. “But, I think everybody is proud of what we’ve done. We still have 11 games left to keep getting better so I think everybody is focused on that. But, I think everybody is pretty happy right now.”
This achievement, after all, is but one stepping stone on the path to their ultimate goal.
Hopefully they don’t share the same fate as the ’76 Warriors, who lost in the Conference Finals. This year’s team would rather be like the ’75 Warriors who won the NBA championship.
LeBron Not Bothered By Love’s MVP Pick
Kevin Love and his MVP candidate, Russell Westbrook during their time together at UCLA.
Monday morning, while a guest on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Kevin Love made waves by telling the show’s host, Dan Patrick, that he would give the MVP to Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, his former UCLA teammate, rather than his current Cleveland Cavaliers teammate, LeBron James.
His reasoning was not too far off from many NBA analysts, writers and TV pundits.
I would just say because of time spent on the court, you know ‘Bron took those few games off and those couple of weeks off. … They’re both having MVP-type seasons, but I’m going to go with Russell Westbrook because every single night you’re looking at his stat sheet, they’re fighting for a playoff spot even with Serge Ibaka going down now, Kevin Durant potentially being out the rest of the year and [Westbrook] still going out there and really fighting for his team and them winning and fighting for that seventh and eighth spot in the playoffs. I think Russ is arguably having the better season.”
Even though many analysts and writers would likely make the same argument, media outlets everywhere were having a field day with Love’s revelation, as though it’s unheard of to want to vote against one’s teammate.
When asked about Love’s choice after practice on Tuesday, LeBron was not bothered by it at all.
I don’t really think too much of it, really. I don’t really get involved in that. I think the voters are going to decide who is the MVP. I think what Russ has been doing, his numbers have been pretty crazy keeping those guys afloat in the West in his play. Steph Curry can make a case, for sure, what he’s been doing … James Harden and myself, as well. So, Kevin has his own opinion of who he believes is the MVP. No one should fault him for that.”
Middleton Makes Improbable Buzzer-Beater
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd has been around long enough to have witnessed great NBA heroics. Last night, however, he was fortunate enough to the Bucks complete an improbable victory over the Miami Heat.
Anyone who has been witness to the NBA from the 1990s through the early 2000s should be familiar with the name Robert Horry, a man whose very nickname tells you all you need to know about his late-game performances: “Big Shot Rob.”
Horry had many great late-game moments in his career, though one of his most famous moments might be his game-winning three-pointer for the Los Angeles Lakers to win Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings in 2002. That shot evened the series at two games apiece, ultimately resulting in the Lakers’ third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals — their third-straight NBA championship.
That shot by Horry was both luck and skill. Horry had enough skill to make the shot, but it was quite improbable that the ball was tapped out directly to him at the three-point line.
Last night, Khris Middleton had his Horry moment.
After outscoring the Miami Heat 21-9 in the final quarter, the Bucks still trailed 88-86 with under 10 seconds remaining. Making the situation even more stressful, they did not even have possession of the ball. They would have to win possession with a jump ball.
Words do not do the situation justice, one must witness the fortunate series of events that led to Middleton’s game-winner.
The improbable buzzer-beater ended a six-game losing streak and helps keep Milwaukee in the entrenched as the six-seed in the Eastern Conference standings, two-and-a-half games ahead of Miami.
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Michael Brumagin writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com. Follow @mbrumagin