By dismissing the Nets, the Riders continue their perfect run with an 11th victory and still no defeat on the clock. Starting an exercise with such a series is an achievement since Kenny Atkinson and his men are only the 12th team in history to achieve this!
Before them, the Celtics in 1964/65, the Blazers in 1990/91, and the Lakers and the Hawks, the same year, in 1997/98, had chained eleven victories in a row before losing. The Sonics in 1982/1983 then the Bulls in 1996/97 managed to win 12 matches in a row before experiencing their first defeat.
The record still very far away
The Celtics in 1957/58 then the Mavericks in 2002/03 went 14-0 to start the regular season. When the Washington Capitols in 1948/49 and the Rockets in 1993/94 had only lost their 16th game, after going a superb 15-0.
This 15-0 was the NBA record for several years, before the Warriors exploded all the counters in 2015/16, the season where they set the record, erasing the Bulls from history, with 73 victories for 9 defeats. Stephen Curry and his gang then won their first 24 matches! Golden State finally lost on December 12, 2015, after more than six weeks of competition…
Is 15-0 possible for the Cavaliers?
If thinking about the record for Cleveland is still fanciful, on the other hand, imagining equaling the Capitols and the Rockets is clearly not impossible. Just look at the schedule of Donovan Mitchell and company. In the week that opens this Monday, they will play Chicago, Philadelphia, Chicago and Charlotte again, without ever being “back-to-back”. Winning these four matches and reaching 15-0 is therefore a possibility.
Why stop at 15 victories? Because on November 19, the Cavaliers will go to Boston to challenge the Celtics and there, if the series is still in progress, it will be in danger. Because we also know that the longer a series of victories, the more it becomes an objective for opponents. Everyone wants to be the one to put an end to it and that will make the clash against the reigning champions even tastier – if the Cavaliers are still undefeated of course.
Finally, last figure: out of the previous eleven, which won at least 11 matches to open a regular season, only three teams ultimately won the NBA title at the end of the season. These were the Celtics in 1965, the Rockets in 1994 and the Bulls in 1997.
