During the summer, Stephen Curry mentioned how he found it funny -- in the sarcastic way, of course -- that his Golden State Warriors were not the favorites for a 2015-16 NBA Finals repeat after dominating their way to it the season before. Clearly, that was used as fuel to start this season, and if there was any doubt that they should've been the favorites, it's gone after the incredible NBA record-tying start -- an unblemished 15-0. And at this point, predicting when the Warriors will lose that first game is a scary proposition for the record books, as well as the rest of the Association.
Just looking at their next five games...
- vs. Los Angeles Lakers (2-10)
- at Phoenix Suns (7-6)
- vs. Sacramento Kings (5-9)
- at Utah Jazz (6-6)
- at Charlotte Hornets (7-6)
None of those teams pose much of a threat. The average at best Suns, Jazz and Hornets are borderline playoff teams this year, but that doesn't mean much with the 16-team playoff format, considering they'll be no better than sixth-eighth seeds in their respective conferences. And really, I don't see this Warriors squad taking nights off anytime soon -- especially with the plethora of depth that allows them to not have to take their foot off the gas pedal.
That would shatter the record of a 15-0 start, improving to 20-0 by Dec. 2.
Following that five-game stretch is the next opportunity where a team may have the chance to stop them, as they head up to Canada to play the Toronto Raptors. These two teams have already played, and the Raptors hung tough, losing by only five -- and that was at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
This time around, the Raptors have home-court advantage and an added bonus because the Warriors travel from Oakland to Salt Lake City to Charlotte to Toronto in the span of just eight days. Maybe, just maybe, the Warriors will have that rare off night here, and an athletic, high-scoring Raptors team can score at least one more point than them -- maybe.
If that fails, though, the schedule looks pretty favorable for the Warriors until Christmas -- barring a miracle win by a young and feisty Milwaukee Bucks team, as they get two tries in six days, one at home and one on the road.
This writer's opinion, though, is that they won't lose their first contest until that Christmas-day game, a revenge match for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are mostly healthy, with Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert as the only main pieces out at the moment. But Irving is making good progress and could be back by the time these two teams face off.
If the Warriors make it to that point without a loss, though, they could potentially extend their unbeaten record to 27-0. That would be absolutely amazing; and at that point, it'd be hard to argue against them finishing with the best regular-season record of all time, passing Michael Jordan's 1995-96 Chicago Bulls who went 72-10.
Now if that happens, it may be a long time before the Warriors aren't the favorite to win the NBA Finals heading into the season...
