Ha-ha. Of course they will. The NBA regular season stretches to 82 games per team and, thus far, we’re wrapping up the first quarter; 24 percent of the games have been played and GSW has been spotless.
“After coming off a championship run, one would think that the Golden State Warriors would still be hung over from winning it all,” said Jonas Panerio of Cebu Daily News, in an email yesterday. “But no; fuelled (or more like, angered) by naysayers and doubters who threw shade on what they did the past year, the Warriors took what already was a well-oiled machine and turned it into an unstoppable juggernaut, winning 20 in a row behind a beautiful brand of basketball that have made them the biggest draw in the league.”
Twenty-zero. Since their first game last October 27 until today, they’ve faced 15 different squads and defeated each one. When they met the Brooklyn Nets last Nov. 14, the team from New York led by three points with 10 seconds left. But a long-range missile from Andre Iguodala tied the game, sent it to OT, and after 34 total points from Mr. Curry, the Warriors smiled at game’s end, 107-99. Against the LA Clippers days later (Nov. 19), the Clippers led by as much as 23. In the 2nd quarter, the score posted at the giant screen of Staples Center was 50-27, in favor of Griffin & Co. But like Houdini, GSW escaped and clawed its way back to snatch the prize, 124-117.
“When will they lose?” asked Panerio. “Nearly 20 teams have tried. All have failed. Pundits are saying that they will at some point during their current seven-game road trip. Your guess is as good as mine.”
At 6 a.m. today (Phil. time), GSW’s record-breaking run is again under threat when they face the Toronto Raptors (who possess a 12-8 record). This is their second meeting. Last Nov. 17, the squad from Canada came close, losing 110-115 after 37 points from Steph Curry.
After today’s trip to Toronto, it will be four more visits for Golden State (in Brooklyn, Indiana, Boston and Milwaukee) before they play five straight at home. We all know, at some point, that the Warriors will lose. But we can’t help but root for their perfect run. When this golden episode ends, Panerio adds tackeld GSW’s next target: “The talks have been ripe of the possibility of touching or even breaking the 1995-96 Bulls’ regular season record of 72-10.”
One lucky father-and-son tandem who recently saw the Warriors was Dr. Ronald Eullaran and his son Ron Ryane.
Cebu’s top rheumatologist, Dr. Ron attended a conference in San Francisco and for one week bonded with his son. They toured the headquarters of Google, Apple and Facebook. And, to celebrate his 13th birthday during the trip, one stop that the young Ron “Yani” Eullaran requested was a trek to Oracle Arena. The date was Nov. 9. The Eullarans arrived at the venue so early that Yani was interviewed by the local TV station. He spoke about flying to America and making sure he watches his favorite, Steph Curry.
Of the 27-year-old, 6-foot-3 MVP, whose nicknames include “Baby-Faced Assasin” and “Golden Boy,” Panerio writes: “Sports writers, talking heads and analysts are quickly running out of adjectives to describe the daily devastation that the golden one is wreaking upon the league. With a Player of the Month award already tucked in his belt after averaging 31.6 points, six assists and five rebounds, Curry is quickly rewriting common basketball convention with a framework he calls his own. I mean really, what can be done with a guy who strikes while you’re still setting the defense up, often from ranges you don’t even cover?”
SB Nation’s Seth Rosenthal adds: “Stephen Curry doesn’t just excel at basketball. He affronts our customs for presenting and enjoying basketball. If Steph wrote a movie, the good guy would kill the bad guy in the opening credits. Steph dismantles the structure on which an entire production is built. He breaks every rule the rest of us are trained to follow and flourishes just the same. It’s not fair.”
