76ers at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors host the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday in what amounts to the greatest mismatch in professional sports these days. Golden State needs to win eight of its final 10 games to finish 73-9, which would mark the most prolific season in NBA history, while Philadelphia must win one of its final 10 contests to avoid matching its own record for futility in an 82-game season of 9-73 set in 1972-73.
The Warriors have won 52 straight regular-season games at home — the longest streak in NBA history — and need seven more victories to become the first team to finish a season undefeated at home, although San Antonio (37-0) is in line to accomplish the feat first. Golden State defeated Dallas 128-120 on Friday on the strength of 21 3-pointers, giving it 938 this season to break the record of 933 set by Houston in 2014-15. "That's pretty sweet," the Warriors' Klay Thompson told reporters about breaking the record after making nine from long range. "The game is kind of changing, and I think we're on the forefront of that. Our team's shooting ability is second to none." The 76ers erased a 16-point deficit Saturday before losing to Portland 108-105 for their eighth straight loss, 21st in their last 22 contests and 12th in a row on the road.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (9-64): Philadelphia, already without leading scorer Jahlil Okafor (17.5 points), didn't have top rebounder Nerlens Noel (8.0) for a second straight game Saturday because of a bruised knee. Noel totaled 243 points, 190 rebounds, 41 steals and 35 blocks in 17 March games, joining Hakeem Olajuwon (March 1987, November 1988, March 1989, March 1990) as the only players since 1985-86 to record at least 200 points, 190 rebounds, 40 steals and 30 blocks in a month. Robert Covington averaged 16.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in two games since missing the previous six with a concussion while Ish Smith nearly recorded his first career triple-double Saturday after registering 17 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (65-7): Golden State owns the best record after 72 games in NBA history and its league-best 3-point percentage of 41.6 is a big reason. The Splash Brothers — Stephen Curry and Thompson — lead the league in made 3-pointers by a wide margin with 348 and 246, respectively. Curry, who paces the NBA at 30.2 points per game, has scored 33 in each of his last two games after totaling 33 in the previous two contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors are the NBA's highest-scoring team at 115.4 points per game while the 76ers are last at 97.0.
2. Golden State has won 111 straight games — postseason included — when leading by at least 15 points at any point in the contest.
3. The Warriors prevailed 108-105 at Philadelphia on Jan. 30 in the first meeting of the two-game season series behind 32 points from Thompson.