The Golden State Warriors are all the talk in the NBA right now. Steve Kerr has his team out to an amazing 15-0 start, one that has put the Warriors within easy reach of breaking the record for best start in NBA history. Golden State, who are led by Steph Curry, need only to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that is struggling horribly, in a game from Oakland on Tuesday night in order to break the record for most wins to open a season.
Curry commented on his team’s start:
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” he claimed. “Obviously, coming off a championship and taking care of business 15 straight times to start the season – couldn’t ask for a better start.”
One of the most impressive wins in the streak came in a recent outing against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors, in a game played this past Thursday, weren’t just down by double digits to the Clippers – the Warriors found themselves down by a full 23 points. If they would have coasted to a loss, then no one really would have criticized them following their amazing start. However, GS came all the way back in the game, posting a 7-point win for what amounted to a 30-point turnaround. What the victory shows is that this team has a Michael Jordan-like expectation for perfection – where losing is never acceptable and where the game is 48 minutes long no matter what the score.
At this point, Golden State holds a huge 7-game lead in the Pacific Division, with Phoenix, not the Clippers, currently holding second place. I don’t use the word “lock” in sports, but so long as Curry stays healthy, the Warriors are a near-lock to win their division. The other divisions, do not see such dominance.
For example, in the Northwest Division it was expected that OKC would be a runaway winner. Heading into this week, the Thunder are just 8-6 with every team in the division within a stone’s throw of supplanting them. In the Southwest Division, San Antonio are on a top, but they hold just a one-point lead over Dallas.
The only division leader that could be called a surprise at this point in the season is Miami, the team currently ahead in the Southeast. However, the Heat are barely ahead of the slow-start Atlanta Hawks while Cleveland and Toronto, as expected, lead the Central and Atlantic divisions respectively.
An interesting game coming up this week is, of course, the one between the Lakers and Warriors. With history on the line, the two teams will meet at 10:30 pm ET from Oakland. Cleveland and Toronto, in a battle of division leaders, will meet on Wednesday night in a game that will come from the Air Canada Centre (7:30 pm ET). Late in the week, Golden State will be in Phoenix to take on the Suns in a game where the Warriors will likely be looking to extend their record (9:30 pm ET on Friday).