Golden State Warriors 2015 NBA Season Preview
41. <ul> <li>67-15 record</li> <li>1<sup>st</sup> seed in Western Conference</li> <li>2015 NBA Champions</li> </ul>. 4th place. Southeast Division. Golden State Warriors. 1st. player
The Golden State Warriors completed what can only be described as a dream season last year. They finished the regular season with an unbelievable 67-15 record, just five wins shy of the greatest regular season mark in NBA history. Of course, they carried that into the postseason where they eventually became the 2015 NBA Champions.
What the Warriors did last season was truly a mark of greatness. The Warriors finished the year with the second best offense in the NBA and the best defense in the league in terms of efficiency. In fact, they joined the 2007-08 Boston Celtics as the only NBA teams since 1973-74 to averaged over 109 points per 100 possessions while allowing fewer than 99 points per 100 possessions in the same season, per Basketball Reference.
Even more remarkable than how efficient the Warriors were on both ends of the floor is the way that they were able to accomplish it. Most teams that post that kind of net rating play at an average-to-slow pace; the Warriors were the only team in the league last season to average more than 100 possessions per game, making them the fastest paced team in the league.
Playing at that speed and being that efficient in doing so is truly remarkable and borderline revolutionary. Yet, there are people out there who look at the Warriors’ title and postseason run and say that it wasn’t all that impressive as every playoff opponent they faced was dealing with injuries to key parts of their lineup.
No matter how true that is about their road to winning the championship, it’s also incredibly asinine to detract from what they did last season with that argument. They were the best team in the regular season and they ran through the postseason with the same fervor and success. Maybe the injuries helped them overcome adversity that would have been more daunting otherwise, but they still ran through the obstacles put in front of them.
With all of that, though, the 2015-16 season holds the opportunity for the Warriors to repeat as champions and also to prove the people belittling their title run wrong. Golden State has their core returning this season and is one of the favorites to win the title this season as well. If they play at the level that they did last season, it’s hard to imagine them not being in that title picture.
Who knows what can happen, but the pieces are unquestionably there for Golden State to try and hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy once again. This is everything that you need to know about the Warriors for the 2015-16 NBA season.
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