Oakland, April 14 (AFP): The Golden State Warriors blazed to a record 73rd victory of the NBA season, thrashing the Memphis Grizzlies 125-104 to eclipse the 72-win campaign of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry on Wednesday scored 46 points as the reigning champions broke the mark that seemed unassailable when it was set two decades earlier by that Michael Jordan-led Bulls team.
With their 73-9 record in hand and the confetti falling at a raucous Oracle Arena, the Warriors were already turning their attention to the playoffs and their larger quest for a title repeat.
"Now, let's go get this championship," Draymond Green exhorted the delirious crowd.
Green had been a vocal supporter of the race for the record, urging his team-mates toward the feat even as some questioned whether the exhausting pursuit could cost them in the post-season.
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Golden State Warriors' fan Conor Bonal, 13, of Antioch shows his handmade 73-9 sign to fellow Warriors' fans outside Oracle Arena as he exits the A's game before Warriors' NBA game in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. (Photo - The Chronicle)[/caption]
"It's a great way to finish off what was an amazing regular season," said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a guard on that Bulls team 20 years ago. "I'd never in a million years have guessed that that record would ever be broken. I thought it was like (Joe) DiMaggio's hit streak. Really. And I was wrong."
NBA icon Jordan and US President Barack Obama offered their congratulations.
"I want to congratulate the Warriors on their amazing season," Jordan said in a statement. "The game of basketball is always evolving and records are made to be broken. The Warriors have been a lot of fun to watch and I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs."
Obama, an avowed Bulls fan, tweeted his congratulations.
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Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry is fouled by Memphis Grizzlies' Matt Barnes in 1st quarter during NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. (Photo - The Chronicle)[/caption]
"Congrats to the @Warriors, a great group of guys on and off the court. If somebody had to break the Bulls' record, I'm glad it's them," he posted.
The chase for the record was launched by the Warriors' 24-0 start to the season -- achieved with interim coach Luke Walton at the helm as Kerr recovered from complications from back surgery.
But it came down to the final game of the campaign and fittingly saw Curry reach yet another once unthinkable milestone as he surpassed 400 three-pointers for the season.
Curry, who had already become the first player to make 300 three-pointers in a single season back on March 8, drained 10 from beyond the arc to take his total to the season to 402 -- shattering his own previous single-season record of 286 from last season.
Six of Curry's three-pointers came in the first quarter, when he exploded for 20 points and almost out-scored Memphis single-handedly as Golden State took a 37-23 lead.
The Grizzlies never got the deficit below 11 points from there and Curry, who put up a career-high 19 three-point attempts, had the luxury of resting the entire fourth quarter.
Curry's 41st point of the night, late in the third period, ensured he would finish the season with a scoring average above 30.0 points per game, making him the only Warrior in history other than Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry to hit that mark.
