<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Get all of Ben Golliver\u2019s columns as soon as they\u2019re published. Download the new Sports Illustrated app (iOS&amp;nbsp;or Android) and personalize your experience by following your favorite teams and SI writers.&lt;/em&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;OAKLAND \u2014 The last time the NBA\u2019s alltime record for wins fell, two decades ago in Wisconsin, Michael Jordan summed up a choppy 86\u201380 road victory over the Bucks with four words: \u201CSometimes ugly is beautiful.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Inside a raucous Oracle Arena&amp;nbsp;on Wednesday, the last night of the 2016 season, Stephen Curry offered Golden State\u2019s counter: Sometimes beautiful is beautiful, too.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;Golden Season: SI\u2019s hub for all thing Warriors&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;The Warriors\u2019 73 best plays\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Golden State claimed its record-setting&amp;nbsp;73rd&amp;nbsp;victory of the 2016 season, dissecting a wounded Memphis team 125\u2013104 to break Chicago\u2019s seemingly unbreakable 72\u201310 regular-season record.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI thought [72 wins] was like [Joe] DiMaggio\u2019s hit streak, and I was wrong,\u201D said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who happened to be one of Jordan\u2019s teammates during that record-setting season. \u201CI will say the same thing now that I said 20 years ago. I don\u2019t think this one will ever be broken. Somebody\u2019s got to go 74\u20138 and I don\u2019t see it. I hope our fans aren\u2019t expecting that next year.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After the 1996 Bulls\u2019&amp;nbsp;70th&amp;nbsp;win, the one that moved them past the 1972&amp;nbsp;Lakers&amp;nbsp;in the record books, Jordan had lamented his team\u2019s self-imposed \u201Cpressure\u201D and its lack of \u201Crhythm.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u200B\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If Curry felt the squeeze of history, or the stress of Jordan\u2019s immense and ever-present shadow, he never showed it. As for his rhythm? That was certainly never in doubt, not when he calmly and mercilessly drained six three-pointers in the first quarter alone, on his way to a game-high 46 points and 10 threes on the night. After he was done torching them, Curry claimed one of the basket nets as a memento of the historic evening.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThe game has evolved a lot and we have our certain identity of how we play,\u201D Curry said, when asked to contrast the 2016 Warriors and the 1996 Bulls. \u201CShooting at a high level, moving the ball, everybody has a role. We have fun doing it. I don\u2019t know specifically any differences, but one similarity is we love winning, we love to compete and we love to push ourselves. That\u2019s what pushed us to the opportunity we had tonight.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The final touch in a brilliant, consistent, awe-inspiring campaign was one part coronation and one part carnival. Before the game, fire burst from the stanchion, fireworks popped down from the rafters, and a disco ball spun from the ceiling. Those were merely appetizers.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;MAHONEY: Kobe\u2019s perfect ending&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;GOLLIVER: Warriors get high final grade&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Golden State\u2019s center threw behind-the-back passes, the power forward tossed a perfect lob on two-on-one fast breaks, the small forward manned his floor-spacing spot in the corner, the shooting guard pulled from anywhere at a moment\u2019s notice and the point guard, the spectacular point guard, installed himself yet again as the central force in the game and the life of the party.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 2015 MVP and surefire 2016 MVP launched from near the logo,&amp;nbsp;lasered&amp;nbsp;crosscourt&amp;nbsp;passes and became the first player in NBA history to sink more than 400 three-pointers in a season (worth noting: he finished with 403 threes, and no one else has hit 300). When Curry hit three three-pointers in less than a minute in the opening quarter, the home crowd, a sea of matching royal blue T-shirts, saluted him with \u201CM-V-P\u201D chants, paying its respects to one last game-deciding barrage in a season of never-ending splash.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the tone set, Golden State never looked back, scoring 37 in the first quarter, 70 by halftime and more than 100 after three quarters. The Grizzlies were reduced to lambs at the slaughter, and the home crowd amused itself with rounds of The Wave during the fourth quarter.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201C[Seventy-three wins means] I\u2019m a part of the best team ever,\u201D said Draymond Green, who clutched the game ball as he grabbed a microphone to thank the fans from center court. \u201CNot many people can say that. Fifteen guys can say that, and that\u2019s amazing.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Twenty years ago, Bulls center Bill&amp;nbsp;Wennington&amp;nbsp;made it clear that Chicago\u2019s 72\u201310 regular season \u201Cdoesn\u2019t mean a thing if we don\u2019t win the ring.\u201D Of course, the Bulls sealed their place among the greatest teams in history with a 15\u20133 jaunt through the postseason to secure the fourth title of Jordan\u2019s career.\r\n\r\n&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Warriors now begin their title defense against the Rockets this weekend, looking for the same asterisk-avoiding validation that&amp;nbsp;Wennington&amp;nbsp;mentioned.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CRelief doesn\u2019t happen until you win a championship,\u201D Green said.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt would suck to not finish the job off,\u201D Curry said. \u201CHopefully there\u2019s a Larry O\u2019Brien trophy next to us in a couple months.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a congratulatory statement Wednesday night, Jordan himself reminded Golden State that it still had work to do.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThe game of basketball is always evolving and records are made to be broken,\u201D Jordan said. \u201CThe Warriors have been a lot of fun to watch and I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before all eyes shift to the upcoming first-round matchup, though, take a minute to process this: The Warriors not only surpassed the Bulls\u2019 hallowed mark, they made win No. 73, the one that should have been the most excruciating, look like a walk in the park.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nba/2016/04/14/golden-state-warriors-73-wins-chicago-bulls-nba-record-legacy>