Golden end to season
(APRIL 13, 2016)
We’re all missing sports these days. So with the games on hold, we’re offering a daily dose of memorable moments as chronicled through sports history:
This published on a night when the Warriors broke the NBA record for wins (73) in a season, Stephen Curry eclipsed
400 3-pointers in a season and Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in his final game.
The stars did not disappoint.
And the most celebrated closing night in NBA regular-season history not only lived up to expectations, it might have exceeded them with a pair of performances that will be talked about for years to come.
The Warriors became the first team to win 73 games as Stephen Curry scored 46 points and topped the 400 mark in 3-pointers to cap what will almost certainly be his second straight MVP campaign.
Kobe Bryant’s career with the Lakers ended in most surprising fashion — a 60-point game, the first time he reached that plateau since 2009.
“This has been an amazing day for sports fans, basketball fans in particular,” Bryant said, still wearing his Lakers uniform about an hour after the game, not quite willing to take it off for the final time.
“It’s been a great day with them setting such an unbelievable record — you think about that, 73 wins, that’s ridiculous — and then obviously what happened here tonight. It’s been a great night in basketball history.”
Most everyone agreed, including President Barack Obama, Michael Jordan and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
The Warriors beat the Grizzlies 125-104, finishing the season 73-9 and breaking the 72-10 mark Jordan and the Bulls put together 20 years earlier.
Jordan congratulated the Warriors in a statement released after the game. He also said, “The Warriors have been a lot of fun to watch and I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs.”
In other words, Jordan was saying, “Now go win the title.” When the Bulls won 72, they capped that season with a championship.
Somehow the Warriors’ record almost seemed overshadowed.
“Nobody really cares about the 73 wins it was all about Kobe today,” Pacers guard C.J. Watson posted on Twitter.
Bryant scored his 60 points on 50 shots — the most of any game in his career and a total that came with the blessing of teammates, who wanted him to score as much as possible one final time.
“(It) felt good to be able to do that one last time,” Bryant said.
When it ended, the basketball world was buzzing.
Heat forward Chris Bosh tweeted: “73 wins and one dude shooting 50 shots in one game on the same night. Has that ever happened before? #awesome”
The playoffs await for the Warriors, but not Bryant. His career is done, and his last act on the Staples Center floor was a two-word farewell to Lakers fans:
“Mamba out.”
OTHER APRIL 13 MOMENTS
1957: The Celtics capture their first NBA championship as rookie Tommy Heinsohn scores 37 points and grabs 23 rebounds in a 125-123 double-overtime victory over the
St. Louis Hawks in Game 7.
1972: The first player strike in baseball history ends and the season is set to start April 15.
1980: Seve Ballesteros, 23, becomes the youngest to win the Masters, with a fourstroke victory.
1986: Jack Nicklaus wins the Masters for a record sixth time and becomes the oldest to win the event at 46.
1997: Tiger Woods wins the Masters by a record 12 strokes at Augusta National. Closing with a 69, Woods finished at 18under 270, the lowest score in the Masters and matching the most under par by anyone in any of the four Grand Slam events.
2006: Brendan Shanahan records his 17th career hat trick and adds an assist as the Red Wings set an NHL record with their 11th straight road win, 7-3, over the Blackhawks.