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 October/November made 402
three-pointers this season, breaking
his own NBA record of 286. 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.
December 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.
January/February welcomed the Golden State Warriors to the
White House on February 4, 2016, to honor their
2015 NBA Championship win.In a win against the
New York Knicks on January 31, Green tied
Hall of Famer Tom Gola's franchise record of nine triple-doubles in a season. Golden State reached the
NBA All-Star break at 48–4, the best start to an NBA season at this juncture. By defeating the
Atlanta Hawks on February 22, the Warriors became the fastest team to reach 50 wins in a season, accomplishing this in just 55 games. Golden State also had 30 assists in a game for the 29th time this season, setting a new franchise record. On February 27, the Warriors defeated the
Oklahoma City Thunder and won their 29th road game of the season, breaking the franchise record of 28 which they set last season. They also became the fastest team ever in NBA history to clinch a playoff berth, accomplishing it in just 58 games. They bettered the
1985–86 Boston Celtics by just one day. This was also the earliest a team had clinched a playoff spot in February since the
1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers (although the season started almost two weeks earlier than the season did within their respective calendar years). In this game,
Stephen Curry also broke the
single season three-point record (286), a record that he himself held, by making his 287th and 288th three-pointers of the season as two of his 12 three-pointers of the game, tying the single game NBA three-point record (jointly holding it with
Kobe Bryant and
Donyell Marshall).
March On March 3, the Warriors tied the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the longest regular-season home-game winning streak in NBA history (44 games), with a 121–106 victory at home against the
Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors' win streak dated back to the
previous year. Entering the game on March 6, the
Los Angeles Lakers (.190) and Golden State (.917) had a .727 difference in win percentage, making the Lakers' blowout 112–95 win the biggest upset in NBA history. On March 7, the Warriors won their 45th-straight regular season home game over the
Orlando Magic, eclipsing the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls 44 wins in a row, to claim the NBA record. With a
Los Angeles Clippers' loss to the
Cleveland Cavaliers on March 13, the Warriors officially clinched the
Pacific Division title for second consecutive season and fourth time overall. By defeating the
New Orleans Pelicans on March 14, the Warriors became the fastest team to reach 60 wins in a season, accomplishing this in just 66 games. With a road win over the
Minnesota Timberwolves on March 21, Golden State became only the ninth team in NBA history to achieve 31 wins on the road in the regular season. The Warriors finished the
Pacific Division with a 15–1 (.938) record, the best intradivisional record in franchise history. In a 128–120 win over the
Dallas Mavericks on March 25, both teams combined for 39 made three-pointers (21 by the Warriors, 18 by the Mavericks), an all-time NBA record, which beat the 37 set by the Warriors and Blazers two weeks earlier. Golden State also eclipsed the previous record for most three-pointers in a single season by a team in NBA history (933) that had been set by the
Houston Rockets the previous year.
Postseason led the Warriors to an NBA record 73–9 regular season, eclipsing the 72–10 of the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls team he was a player on. 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.
May 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. 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. 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.
June NBA Finals In Game 1 on June 2, Golden State beat Cleveland 104–89. The Warriors were led by their bench, with
Shaun Livingston scoring a team-high 20 points. The 35-point bench advantage (45–10) the Warriors had over the Cavs is the largest by any team in the Finals in the last 50 years. The Warriors won Game 2 by a blowout 110–77, to go up 2–0 in the series. Golden State won the first 2 games by a combined 48 points, the largest point-differential through first 2 games in NBA Finals history. After Golden State lost Game 3 by a blowout 120–90, they came back in Game 4 to win 108–97, to take a 3–1 series lead. The Warriors made 17 three-pointers, an NBA record for a single Finals game. After serving his suspension, Green returned to play in Game 6. Game 6 was played on June 16, exactly one year after Golden State won Game 6 of the
2015 NBA Finals, which was also played in Cleveland. Unlike in the 2015 NBA Finals, however, the Warriors failed to clinch the title in Game 6. The Warriors were outscored 31–11 by the Cavaliers in the first quarter, and Cleveland never relinquished their lead as Golden State lost 115–101. This was only the second time in 105 games this season (regular-season and postseason) that the Warriors lost consecutive games. The loss evened the series at three games apiece, forcing a Game 7, the first Game 7 in an NBA Finals appearance in Golden State franchise history. During the fourth quarter of Game 6, Stephen Curry, who set the record for most three-pointers in an NBA Finals series during the game (28), fouled out with his sixth personal foul. Curry angrily responded by throwing his
mouthguard into the stands and hit a fan, which resulted in a technical foul and the first ejection of his career. It was the first time in 20 years that a player had been ejected from an NBA Finals game. After the game, Curry received a $25,000 fine for his actions, but was not suspended for Game 7. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also received a $25,000 fine for his criticism of the officiating, which he felt was biased against Curry, in the post-game press conference. On June 19, 2016, Golden State lost Game 7, 93–89, becoming the first team in NBA history to squander a 3–1 lead in the NBA Finals. They also became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 1–3 deficit and lose a 3–1 lead in the same playoffs. The Warriors are the 11th team in NBA history to lose a 3–1 series lead and just the fourth team in NBA history to lose an NBA Finals' Game 7 on their home court. The loss marked the first time since Steve Kerr became head coach that the Warriors had lost three straight games. Golden State became the first team in NBA history to finish with the same number of regular-season and postseason losses (9). They also became the first team in NBA history with 69 or more regular season wins that failed to win the NBA Championship. ==Records==