A lot of excitement happened in basketball during the previous year. Kobe Bryant announced his retirement, LeBron lost his two best teammates and went HAM against the Warriors in the Finals, and Blake Griffin barricaded a door to keep DeAndre Jordan in Los Angeles. And guess what, none of those made our top five! That’s just how wild this year was! With that in mind, let’s look at five unforgettable NBA moments from the past year.
5. Matthew Dellavedova’s Performance In Game 3
Delly became a lightning rod of discussion for his performance in the Finals. Filling in for the injured Kyrie Irving, he helped the Cavs take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals, before losing their last three. He’s not exactly the best athlete, or the most skilled offensive player, but that’s what made him such a sensation.
He came through in a big way in Game 3, putting in 20 points while playing lockdown defense on Steph Curry, forcing him into a poor shooting performance. He went back to Earth in the Final three games, but his out-of-nowhere brilliance in Game 3 will be part of Cleveland basketball history forever.
4. Everything Kristaps Porzingis Has Done So Far
The above clip shows Porzingis’ 29-point, 11-rebound effort against the Hornets, but really, you could hardly pick just one moment. Three Six Latvia has taken over the NBA (it doesn’t hurt that he’s in New York City), and brought hope to a Knicks franchise that desperately needed something to get excited about. After being booed on draft night, Porzingis has proven his doubters wrong, and is battling with Karl-Anthony Towns for Rookie of the Year honors. More importantly, the man has captured the imagination of NBA fans everywhere. Quite simply, the man is his own moment.
3. Klay Thompson Scores An NBA Record 37 Points In One Quarter
It might be the greatest heat check of all-time; if this was NBA Jam, Klay would have set the entire arena on fire. The threes just kept raining down (not to mention a brilliant back-and-forth with Steph that ended in a killer dunk).
By the time it was over, a close game had morphed into a rout. Klay ended up with 52 points for the game, and the poor Kings learned that both Splash Brothers are capable of completely taking over a game.
2. Chris Paul’s Incredible Game 7 Performance To Beat The Spurs
It can be easy to forget just how great Chris Paul is, but he certainly reminded us with his brilliant performance in Game 7 of the Clippers’ first-round showdown with the Spurs last spring. CP3 wasn’t entirely healthy, but knowing his team needed him, he gutted out a 27-point, six-assist masterpiece, and hit the series-clinching shot. This game was a reminder of what an incredible fighter Paul is, and even though the Clippers season ended with a stunning collapse to Houston in the next round, this game should be the lasting memory of CP3’s 2015.
1. The Warriors‘ 24-Game Winning Streak To Open The Season
The Dubs’ epic streak ended this past weekend at the hands of a spunky Milwaukee Bucks team, but boy, it sure was fun while it lasted. The Warriors frequently blew teams out of the water — the poor Grizzlies lost by 50 — and were quite adept at dodging late-game bullets, as well (witness their double overtime epic against Boston the night before the loss in Milwaukee). Eventually, the streak fell as a result of their schedule, as a tired Dubs group was outfoxed by the young, athletic Bucks who played as perfectly as they could. Still, the streak showed just how talented and cohesive the Warriors are. For the rest of the season, they’ll be taking a crack at the Bulls’ 72-win single season NBA record. They’re ahead of that pace so far…