LeBron James believes the Golden State Warriors’ success has been greatly helped by their fortune when it comes to avoiding injuries.
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By today defeating the Denver Nuggets 118-105, the Warriors notched up their 15th consecutive win of the season, without a loss.
That’s a scary thought, considering this Warriors team just surpassed the ’57-58 Boston Celtics for the best start by a defending champion.
DeMar DeRozan had 21 points and DeMarre Carroll scored all his 21 points in the first half for the Raptors, who shot a poor 37 percent from the field but made up for it by forcing 19 turnovers.
The Warriors pushed the lead to 19 points in the fourth with Curry and the starters on the bench.
J.J. Redick scored 17 points, but Blake Grifin netted just nine – 17 below his season average in 29 foul-plagued minutes – for the Clippers (6-7), who stormed from 29 down to 73-67 early in the fourth quarter before falling for the seventh time in the last nine games. “Since we’ve got 15, we might as well get 16”.
The Warriors have a chance to break the record they now share with the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets when they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
Curry led the Warriors to a 4-0 week behind 30.8 points (second in the NBA), 6.0 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals (third in the NBA).
Klay Thompson paced the Warriors with 21 points, three rebounds, seven assists, and one block. On Tuesday, they can pull ahead for the sole best start ever when the lowly Lakers visit Oracle Arena. They dished out 35 assists.
Serge Ibaka had 16 points, nine rebounds for the Thunder.
Kyrie Irving (left knee), Iman Shumpert (right wrist), Timofey Mozgov (right shoulder) and Mo Williams (right ankle) all sidelined.
The Warriors led by six points in the third quarter before Curry capped a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer that came fortuitously after a missed dunk by Festus Ezeli.
When the Warriors played in Denver last March, they rested Curry & Co.
The 15-0 Warriors want the record for themselves.
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Curry said any postgame celebration by the defending champions was muffled, as Walton merely congratulated the team. “We have a great group and to be able to be in position to do something that hasn’t been done in the history of the National Basketball Association with all the great teams and all the great players who have played in this league, that’s special”.
