Guard Stephen Curry — who has displaced the aging Kobe Bryant as the most-dominant guard in the NBA — leads the Warriors against the Lakers Tuesday night in a quest for the best-ever start to an NBA season with 16 straight wins.
The 1987 Brewers. Or the 1948 Washington Capitols. Don’t forget the 2007 Patriots.
The 2015-16 Warriors (15-0) are 48 solid minutes shy of entering that level of greatness, as a win over the last-place Los Angeles Lakers (2-11) Tuesday evening would give them the best start in NBA history.
The modern mark Golden State is looking to topple was set by the 1993-94 Houston Rockets, spearheaded by Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Cassell: 15 wins to open the season before a road loss to Atlanta knocked them off their streak.
Rudy Tomjanovich, Houston’s head coach, couldn’t have been mad at the loss. His squad was setting records. How could he?
The Warriors tied the league record held by Houston and the Washington Capitols Sunday after a road win against the Denver Nuggets, and are on the verge of bringing more records to Oakland, a city that has been without good sports news outside of the Warriors for a bit.
Golden State already owns the longest season-opening win streak by a defending champion, but they now have their sights set on the Lakers.
Point guard and reigning MVP Stephen Curry says he wants to stick to the game plan, and set the tone early. Curry isn’t tired about talking about the winning streak, which he revealed with a slight grin at Monday’s practice.
Forward Draymond Green hasn’t been shy about his ambition to set the record. He wasn’t ready to say anything when it was speculative, when the team was 7-0.
But when Golden State got to 12-0, some whispering was warranted. At 13-0, there was reason to talk about it. There was no reason not to.
Tuesday night’s game against versus the troubled Lakers coincides with Green bobbleheads being doled out to the first few thousand fans, and with some recognition of former Warrior Jason Richardson, whom Green looks up to.
It’s a night that has all the ingredients to be very special for a franchise that has been without glory for the vast majority of their existence in Oakland.
They’ll be shooting the moon against a team who was great for a long time, led by a player, Kobe Bryant, who was among the league’s best for nearly two decades, but no longer.
The changing of the guard has already happened, and Tuesday night should be the moment where it becomes clear to all basketball fans, especially the ones who haven’t been paying attention.
Jason Leskiw is SFBay’s Golden State Warriors beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @LeskiwSFBay on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of the Warriors.
Last modified November 24, 2015 10:35 pm
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