Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Steve Kerr Comment Following 2016 NBA Finals Loss

The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors were history-makers from start to finish, setting a record for wins to begin the season (24) and wins during a single regular season (73). On Sunday, they became the first team in NBA Finals history to blow a 3-1 series lead after dropping Game 7 to the Cleveland Cavaliers 93-89.

"Yeah, it stung," Stephen Curry said. "It sucked to watch them celebrate, and we wish it could have been us."

The Warriors lost in the most heartbreaking fashion possible. In a close game. On their home floor. With seemingly infinite chances to grab the proverbial brass ring.

There was the go-ahead layup by Andre Iguodala, which LeBron James swatted with one of the finest blocks in Finals history. There was the Curry three-pointer with 30 seconds left, which clanged off the right side of the rim after Kevin Love, of all people, played lockdown defense. With their season on the line, the highest-octane offense in recent NBA history went scoreless for the final 4:39.

"You know, we've had so many moments of joy together, and it was like, wow, we're actually having a moment of sorrow as a team," coach Steve Kerr said.

Only nine teams in league history had ever come from behind in the playoffs. Still, the Warriors knew how quickly a series could shift. Klay Thompson's unreal shooting barrage in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals saved their season and allowed them to overcome their own 3-1 deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

There's no question what altered these Finals: Draymond Green's suspension combined with an 82-point outburst from James and Kyrie Irving in Game 5.

Kerr spoke of the swing game at his press conference:

"

This is why you can't mess around. Not that we messed around, but this is why every game counts. Game 5 was really the key. That was the turning point of the whole series. We didn't play well enough to win. It was a tough game for us with the circumstances, and I thought they had two guys who played epic games, Kyrie and LeBron. And that changed the whole series. But with that said, I thought we were going to take care of business tonight at home, and we just couldn't get it done.

"

Green, the Warriors' defensive leader and maybe their most important player, left it on the line in Game 7. He finished with 32 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists; he had more points than Curry and Klay Thompson combined. Still, Green couldn't help but look back at these playoffs with a sense of frustration.

"This playoff run, for me, has been a bunch of highs and a few lows, and the lows have kind of been tough," Green said, per Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com. "Because there have been some instances where character was attacked, and I've said, being suspended for a game, not being able to be out there with my teammates, you know, it's been a pretty tough road."

The more unfair question now facing the Warriors is where they stand in history. All regular season long, shouting television segments were devoted to comparing their greatness to that of the 1995-96, 72-win Chicago Bulls. Now, they join the 2007, 18-1 New England Patriots on the list of record-setting teams that fell short when it counted.

"I don't know," Curry said when asked about the Warriors' legacy, per Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. "I mean, we had a great regular season. Did something no team's done before. Fell short in the last game of the season. It hurts, man. I mean, that's all I'm really kind of marinating on right now."

Golden State's next step is to do the same thing Cleveland did a year ago: recover. Curry dealt with a nagging knee injury through the playoffs, Iguodala's back is aching, and Andrew Bogut went down in Game 5.

Even after the gut-punch loss, Curry was clear about their mission, per Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News: "This ain't the last time you're going to see us on this stage."

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.