The duel between the teams that were struggling to reach a historical mark and maintain another fell on the side of the Golden State Warriors, who tied the historical record of 72 wins in a season and took the San Antonio Spurs undefeated at home in the NBA day.
Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers won a ticket to the finals, eliminating the Chicago Bulls, and the Toronto Raptors seek the leadership of the Eastern Conference.
Point guard Stephen Curry had 37 points and the Warriors tied the historical record for most wins in a season by defeating the Spurs 86-92 at home, who saw their streak of 39 consecutive wins in their field in the season and 48 adding games broken from the last championship.
The Warriors (72-9) tied the record of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls from 1995-96, who went 72-10 and also broke a streak of 33 straight losses in the city of San Antonio, where they had not won since 1997 .
Now the Warriors will have a chance to set an all-time best of 73 wins if they beat the decimated Memphis Grizzlies at home on Wednesday.
The Spurs with the defeat leave their home mark at 39-1 so far this season, the best in the league and their 48 wins in a row when adding the nine they had at the end of the past is the second best in the history of the league. NBA, only surpassed by the Warriors who put it at 54.
The San Antonio team had not lost at home since March 12, 2015, 125-128 in overtime against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors’ record, the best in history, was stopped by the Boston Celtics, who beat them 106-109 on April 1 and then lost again to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Reserve power forward, rookie Myles Turner, had a double-double of 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Pacers beat the Brooklyn Nets 129-105 and grabbed the last undecided playoff berth in the Eastern Conference .
The Pacers (43-37) rose to seventh in the East, tied with the Detroit Pistons, who with the same record are eighth, and with their victory they eliminated the Bulls, who stayed out of the final phase for the first time since the 2008 season.
Shooting guard DeMar DeRozan tripled with 1:05 remaining in regulation time and led the visiting Raptors to an 89-93 win over the New York Knicks, in a matchup of Atlantic Division teams.
The Raptors (54-26) can still advance to the finals with the best record in the Eastern Conference, since they are two wins behind the leaders, the Cleveland Cavaliers (56-24), who only need to win one of the two matches that are yet to be played.
The Raptors must play the Philadelphia Sixers and Brooklyn Nets, two of the teams with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, and the Cavaliers will face the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons, who are in need of wins.
DeRozan reached 9,426 points and surpassed shooting guard Vince Carter (9,420) for second place on the Raptors’ all-time list, led by center Chris Bosh (10,275), now a Miami Heat player.
Reserve shooting guard Jamal Crawford scored 22 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks 98-91, who with the loss saw their streak of six consecutive wins broken and could not claim a ticket to the finals.
The Clippers (52-28) reached five consecutive wins and consolidate themselves in fourth place in the Western Conference.
The Mavericks (41-39) could not earn a ticket to the finals and are seventh in the Western Conference, with one game over the eighth group, the Utah Jazz (40-40), and two over the ninth, the Houston Rockets (39-41), after both teams also achieved victories.
Dallas is 1.5 games behind the fifth-place Portland Trail Blazers and one game behind the sixth-place Memphis Grizzlies, and the final four spots in the West remain to be determined.
Rookie power forward Trey Lyles had a career-high 22 points and forward Gordon Hayward added another 22 that helped the Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 84-100 on the road.
Shooting guard James Harden had 40 points, 20 of them in the fourth quarter, and led the Rockets to a 130-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Kobe Bryant’s last game in the Texan city.
Bryant scored 35 points and led the Lakers in his last game for life at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Sudanese forward Luol Deng scored 20 points and the Heat beat the Orlando Magic 118-96 in their fight to win the Southeast Division title and have the third-best record in the Eastern Conference, which is now owned by the Hawks (48- 32).
The Heat (47-33) remain fifth, tied with the Boston Celtics, while the Charlotte Hornets (46-34), who lost 113-98 to the Washington Wizards, are sixth.
The Polish center Marcin Gortat achieved a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds that left him the leader of the Wizards, eliminated from the final phase, the same as the Milwaukee Bucks who with 36 points and nine assists from shooting guard Khris Middleton won visitors 108-109 to the Philadelphia Sixers. EFE
Warriors tie Jordan’s Bulls record
