The Los Angeles Lakers headed into Sunday’s home game against the defending champion Golden State Warriors with a 12-51 record.
Golden State came into the game with a 55-5 record and on pace to put up the best regular season in the history of the Association.
So it stood to reason that the Warriors would enter the game as 18-point favorites.
What happened Sunday afternoon at Staples Center was indeed history making. The Lakers handed Golden State a 112-95 loss.
Yes, you read that right. The Lakers won by 17 points against a Warriors team that entered Sunday 50 games over .500.
It is the largest upset in terms of winning percentage in the history of the NBA:
At .190 before the game, the Lakers' win vs the Warriors (.917) is the biggest differential in win % in NBA history pic.twitter.com/tsStz9hWXz
— ESPN (@espn) March 6, 2016
Everything had to work in the Lakers favor for this to happen. Golden State shot 4-of-30 from three-point range. Stephen Curry hit 1-of-10 from beyond the three-point line while Splash Brother in crime Klay Thompson whiffed on all eight of his shots beyond the arc.
On the other hand, The Lakers forced 20 Warriors turnovers in what was an inspired defensive performance in Kobe Bryant’s final game against the team’s California rivals.
Jordan Clarkson paced Los Angeles with 25 points while D’Angelo Russell scored 21. This means that the Lakers starting backcourt outscored the Splash Brothers 46-33.
Golden State remains ahead of the Bulls 72-win pace from the 1995-96 season. It also heads home to play the Orlando Magic Monday night with a chance to break the Bulls record with its 45th consecutive home win.