And even if they did manage to power through, a completely undefeated season would be unprecedented: the best league record to date was 72-10, set by the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls during the heyday of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
Advertisement
The defending champion Golden State Warriors set the record for best start in National Basketball Association history at 16-0, as Stephen Curry had 24 points and nine assists in a 111-77 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
The Lakers are 2-12 and travel to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. In the Lakers’ loss to Golden State on Tuesday, Bryant posted only four points on a 1-of-14 clip and 1-of-7 mark from 3-point range. The duo combined to make their first 11 three-point attempts.
Draymond Green scored 12 points in the opening quarter, with Curry and Harrison Barnes chipping in with eight points each. Perhaps it’ll all turn out okay if all this losing results in the Lakers keeping their top three protected pick, but there’s no guarantee that happens.
Bryant said his off night had to do with the team’s overall play – blown defensive coverages, unnamed players not running the offense, etc.
“We do a great job of staying in the moment”. I could’ve scored 80 tonight.
Scott said he doesn’t believe minutes are taking a toll on Bryant, whose past three seasons have all been cut short by injury.
After the game, Scott insisted he still has “faith” in Bryant, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. “My shooting will be better”. He is putting up 15.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists a night as well.
“For us to have to double that output we’re going to have to play hard and hopefully close in on that record”.
Golden State has outscored its opponents by a total of 260 points (an average of 16.3) this season.
“He looks like a teenager out there running laps around the other big men in this league, catching lobs, playing great defence, blocking shots and it’s great to see”, said Curry in a teleconference on Wednesday.
If the Warriors are able to keep winning, two more records are up for grabs. The score was 30-11.
Golden State surpassed the 1993-1994 Houston Rockets and the ’48-’49 Washington Capitols, who both went 15-0 to start the season before each lost their first game. No one who’s thinking rationally, at least.
Walton has overseen the Warriors’ remarkable start to the campaign after stepping up to replace Steve Kerr in early October as the head coach recovers from back surgery. “It’s a matter of his timing being a little off”.
“Anything’s possible”, Walton said.
Advertisement
Walton, 35, won championships with the Lakers as a role player in 2009 and 2010. Kobe Bryant plays a lot of minutes and does a lot of disgusting things.
