NBA Week 17 Rewind: Warriors, Spurs are only human
By Tom West
After the NBA trade deadline and both the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors suffering blowout losses, there’s a lot to talk about from week 17.
Seeing the San Antonio Spurs and especially the Golden State Warriors is a right sight in itself. Either losing by 20 points is even more shocking. But to see both lose, and by such a margin, within two days is even harder to believe. With a combined record of 95-14 so far this season, as the Warriors look to break the near-impossible 72-10 record of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (sorry to bring it up again), losing is a rare sight for the most dominant forces in the NBA.
Of course, the Warriors reside at the pinnacle of the elite, and week 17 was no different. No move in deadline week threatened their standing, no contender moved closer, and if it wasn’t for a driven, aggressive and simply angry Damian Lillard, the Warriors would have had an even better week.
As Lillard made one of the biggest statements of his career with 51 points, though, and his Portland Trail Blazers went past the champs to the stress-free tune of a 137-105 win on Friday (more on this next), Golden State showed they’re only human.
Everyone has off nights, everyone gets tired, and even a near-perfect team has imperfect moments.
We’ll look into these games next, and if you’re new to the NBA Rewind, here are the other segments, featuring a hint of All-Star festivities and deadline day discussions, too:
- The key games and results of the week
- Who’s heating up?
- Who’s struggling?
- The best highlights of the week
- A weekly rookie watch
- Under-the-radar players to look out for
First, let’s get straight to the Clippers’ surprising defeat of the Spurs.
Next: The Key Games and Results of Week 17