The Golden State Warriors were famous for their extraordinary winning streaks, spectacular three-point shooting and an offense that regularly made NBA defenses look helpless.
But on November 13, 2016, they established a record that revealed something perhaps even more impressive: their remarkable ability to respond to defeat.
With a 133-120 victory over the Phoenix Suns at Oracle Arena, Golden State extended its streak to 96 consecutive regular-season games without suffering back-to-back losses, breaking the previous NBA record of 95 held by the Utah Jazz.
It was another extraordinary achievement for a franchise that had spent the previous two seasons rewriting basketball history. And fittingly, the Warriors celebrated the occasion with an offensive performance that perfectly captured what made their team so dangerous.
Stephen Curry scored 30 points, shooting 9-of-17 from the field and making five three-pointers. Klay Thompson matched him with 30 points, connecting on five triples of his own, while Kevin Durant contributed 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Together, Golden State’s three superstar scorers combined for 89 points. They came agonizingly close to becoming the first Warriors trio to score 30 points apiece in the same game since Durant’s arrival that summer. A late three-point attempt from Durant would have taken him to 32, but the shot missed.
Draymond Green completed the impressive collective performance with 14 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and three steals. But despite the offensive fireworks, the victory was far from comfortable.
Phoenix shot better than 50 percent from the field and repeatedly threatened to spoil the evening. The Suns kept pace with Golden State throughout much of the contest, and the game remained tied deep into the fourth quarter.
With the score still close, Thompson delivered two crucial three-pointers, including one that put Golden State ahead with 4:31 remaining. The Warriors eventually pulled away, improving to 8-2 on the young season.
Yet the real significance of the evening extended far beyond another November victory.
Golden State hadn’t lost consecutive regular-season games since April 2015, when defeats against the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans interrupted an otherwise outstanding championship campaign.
The following season, Curry and his teammates accomplished something unprecedented: they finished the entire 2015-16 regular season without losing consecutive games.
That consistency helped produce an NBA-record 73 victories, surpassing the 72-win benchmark established by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in 1995-96.
And despite the painful collapse against Cleveland in the 2016 NBA Finals and the enormous expectations created by Durant’s arrival, Golden State’s ability to recover from setbacks remained intact.
Steve Kerr’s team didn’t simply win more often than its opponents. It had developed a culture in which one disappointing performance rarely became two. That made the Warriors particularly difficult to beat over an extended period. Even when opponents managed to defeat them, Golden State almost always responded immediately. The remarkable streak would continue well beyond that November evening.
By the time it finally ended on March 2, 2017, following consecutive defeats against Washington and Chicago, the Warriors had extended their record to an astonishing 146 regular-season games without back-to-back losses.
And they would ultimately finish the 2016-17 season as NBA champions, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games after producing a historic 16-1 postseason record.
