2014 Spurs or 2015 Warriors?

[Uriel]

Which team is better?

[cjw]

One beat Lebron/Wade/Bosh by biggest margin in Finals history. Yes Dallas did take them seven, but a better team than GSW faced this entire playoffs.

The other should have been down 3-2 to Lebron and the Knicks cast offs heading into tonight. And don't forget all those open threes the Cavs missed tonight = Heat hit in prior years (look at LBJ's 3pt% last year).

[Uriel]

One beat Lebron/Wade/Bosh by biggest margin in Finals history. Yes Dallas did take them seven, but a better team than GSW faced this entire playoffs.

The other should have been down 3-2 to Lebron and the Knicks cast offs heading into tonight. And don't forget all those open threes the Cavs missed tonight = Heat hit in prior years (look at LBJ's 3pt% last year).
Yes, but the 2015 Warriors won 67 games in the regular season and had a point differential that ranks them historically in the top 5 of all-time.

The 2014 Spurs, by comparison, only won a "paltry" 62 games and were arguably a Serge Ibaka injury away from losing in the WCF.

[cutewizard]

Spurs, every day of the week, and thrice on sundays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooo

[cjw]

Yes, but the 2015 Warriors won 67 games in the regular season and had a point differential that ranks them historically in the top 5 of all-time.

The 2014 Spurs, by comparison, only won a "paltry" 62 games and were arguably a Serge Ibaka injury away from losing in the WCF.

Same argument could be made that W's were a Durant + Ibaka injury from losing in round 1. Didn't happen.

Who were 2 of those 15 regular season losses against? Spurs shit the bed against the Clippers / CP3 and Griffin played like they've never played before.

A random 40 point win against a scrub team pushes up your point differential by 0.5 points over the season. Too much emphasis on the regular season like this is MLB. All that matters in the NBA is getting to the playoffs and winning there. W's did that this year but not in dominant form.

[BatManu20]

I don't think anyone would've beaten the 2014 Spurs given the circumstances.

[spursparker9]

I don't think anyone would've beaten the 2014 Spurs given the circumstances.

maybe the 2001 Lakers

[99 Problems]

No disrespect to the Warriors and good on their long time fans by the way but the ball we played post OKC to destroy the Heat was from another planet. Not sure I ever see it again.

[$pursDynasty]

Spurs could have should have swept, Lebron on a much better Heat team last year but still beat them in 5 convincingly, Lebron on a much worse Cavs team, could have realistlically won the series because only one game was a blowout in the Dubs direction. This could have easily gone 7 if not Cavs win out right. People will try to make this W's team into something all timey but at least in the playoffs I wasn't impressed they just rode the easy path, which as a #1 overall seed you should but I am just saying nothing memorable about what I saw in the playoffs.

[Sigz]

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/john_schuhmann/06/17/golden-state-warriors-win-championship-deserve-to-be-among-all-time-nba-best-champions/

Look at that table.... Not sure.

[cd98]

To be honest, 2014 Heat probably beat Warriors. I think LeBron could have used Bosh and Wade last night.

[Darius Bieber]

To be honest, 2014 Heat probably beat Warriors. I think LeBron could have used Bosh and Wade last night.

He could have used Love and Irving.

[baseline bum]

To be honest, 2014 Heat probably beat Warriors. I think LeBron could have used Bosh and Wade last night.

This

[Malik Hairston]

The 2014 Spurs in the Finals weren't the real Spurs, tbh:lol..nobody could have defeated that team, considering how well they shot the ball..

IIRC, the Finals Spurs shot better on contested jump shots than they did on uncontested shots, which is just outrageous..

As for the comparison, Warriors were obviously better if we're comparing the entire year, they dominated throughout the season..in a head-to-head matchup, Spurs easily win, though, as they match up really well with them(particularly because Thompson is one of the biggest playoff chokers of my lifetime)..

[dabom]

thompson. :lmao

[FromWayDowntown]

As great as Games 3 and 4 of the 2014 Finals were in the systematic dismantling of that Miami team, I still think the most impressive win of the Spurs' 2014 playoff campaign was the put-away game in Oklahoma City in the West Finals.

Given what we saw of this Warriors team, I don't know that they would have been able to win a game like Game 6 in OKC in 2014, which for me is the sort of thing that distinguishes among great teams -- can you put away a championship quality opponent on the road when things are going their way? Maybe it's just my bias, but I don't have the sense that this group of Warriors was quite ready to be that sort of road bully in a gigantic spot against an elite team -- yeah, they clinched 3 of their 4 series on the road this year, but they beat a mediocre Pelicans team that was mentally done, a badly-depleted Memphis team that couldn't score, and a shredded Cleveland team that was basically an exhausted one-man show. Making gigantic play after gigantic play after gigantic play against another heavyweight fighting for its life takes a different sort of quality and mettle, and as good as these Warriors were, I don't know that they had that in them yet. (the ultimate examples of this are when great teams put away other teams that have actually won titles together in crucial road games -- I think that's what made Game 5 in 2005 so incredible (though it was merely pivotal and not a put-away game); it's what would have made Game 6 in 2013 so sweet)).

I guess the counterargument is that GST was *so* good that it never really was in a position to face that sort of pressure.

In any event, their accomplishment is tremendous and I wouldn't ever discount, by any means, how historically great GST's 2014-15 campaign was. I have absolutely no problem saying that they are among the elite of the elite all-time.

[cd98]

As great as Games 3 and 4 of the 2014 Finals were in the systematic dismantling of that Miami team, I still think the most impressive win of the Spurs' 2014 playoff campaign was the put-away game in Oklahoma City in the West Finals.

Given what we saw of this Warriors team, I don't know that they would have been able to win a game like Game 6 in OKC in 2014, which for me is the sort of thing that distinguishes among great teams -- can you put away a championship quality opponent on the road when things are going their way? Maybe it's just my bias, but I don't have the sense that this group of Warriors was quite ready to be that sort of road bully in a gigantic spot against an elite team -- yeah, they clinched 3 of their 4 series on the road this year, but they beat a mediocre Pelicans team that was mentally done, a badly-depleted Memphis team that couldn't score, and a shredded Cleveland team that was basically an exhausted one-man show. Making gigantic play after gigantic play after gigantic play against another heavyweight fighting for its life takes a different sort of quality and mettle, and as good as these Warriors were, I don't know that they had that in them yet. (the ultimate examples of this are when great teams put away other teams that have actually won titles together in crucial road games -- I think that's what made Game 5 in 2005 so incredible (though it was merely pivotal and not a put-away game); it's what would have made Game 6 in 2013 so sweet)).

I guess the counterargument is that GST was *so* good that it never really was in a position to face that sort of pressure.

In any event, their accomplishment is tremendous and I wouldn't ever discount, by any means, how historically great GST's 2014-15 campaign was. I have absolutely no problem saying that they are among the elite of the elite all-time.

I think this is correct. Like Mavs in 2011, the perfect storm of avoiding the best teams to get a title.

[MultiTroll]

psssh.
Spurs in 4.

Where does Golden State rank all time for easiest/flukest route to the title?

[Mikeanaro]

This is the first time I think about asterisks seriously.

[TXstbobcat]

2014 Spurs and it's not even close.

[TD 21]

The 2014 Spurs in the Finals weren't the real Spurs, tbh:lol..nobody could have defeated that team, considering how well they shot the ball..

IIRC, the Finals Spurs shot better on contested jump shots than they did on uncontested shots, which is just outrageous..

As for the comparison, Warriors were obviously better if we're comparing the entire year, they dominated throughout the season..in a head-to-head matchup, Spurs easily win, though, as they match up really well with them(particularly because Thompson is one of the biggest playoff chokers of my lifetime)..

Better for the entire year, based on what? Their metrics are great, but what they don't tell you is that they were far healthier than the '14 Spurs, cared even more about every regular season game, since winning at an elite level was new to them and could play their key players virtually unlimited minutes when the situation called for it.

[DJB]

Which team is better?

Lol... 2014 Spurs are prob the best Championship team of the last 15 years. No one was beating that team in a 7 game series. Unstoppable.

[DJB]

To be honest, 2014 Heat probably beat Warriors. I think LeBron could have used Bosh and Wade last night.

I agree with this 100%. To be honest, neither one of these teams performances in the Finals were impressive. The Warriors played better in the regular season than they did in the series that ended last night. The Cavs just fucking suck.

[spurraider21]

2015 Spurs Summer League