OAKLAND –- There was nothing from the Warriors after winning 10 in a row, nothing after 12 either. They held the company line: One game at a time. And: Next game is all that matters.
But Friday night, after winning their 14th consecutive game, the Warriors made no such attempts to avoid the subject on the tips of tongues throughout the NBA. They openly talked about The Streak, and about becoming the first team in NBA history to win 16 consecutive games. They embraced the subject.
“At this point, you do,” forward Draymond Green said. “Because all you’re doing now is thinking about one game, which you have to do anyway.”
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The next game is Sunday at Denver. A win over the Nuggets would put the Warriors in a three-way tie with the 1993-94 Houston Rockets and the 1948-49 Washington Capitols for most wins to begin a season.
“It’s amazing,” center Festus Ezeli said.
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The Warriors prior to the game talked about it among themselves, interim coach Luke Walton said.
Golden State Warriors
“We haven’t brought it up at all yet, but we’re close enough now,” he said. Let’s try to go get that best start ever.”
Thus, the gate is open.
“It’s a motivational tool for us,” guard Shaun Livingston said. “As you keep going through the games, you try to come up with a new speech as a coach.
“For us, it’s something special. It’s history. We can mark our place. And if we’ve got the chance to do it, why not?”
Game 16 is scheduled for Tuesday at Oracle, against the Los Angeles Lakers. Should the Warriors win that one, too, they’ll sit alone atop this particular mountain.
“That’s history right there,” Ezeli said. “That’s a huge accomplishment for us, and it’s a great start to the season.
“Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, our ultimate goal is to win the championship or chase it right now. We’ve got to continue to get better and improve every game.
“But that right there (the record) is a huge accomplishment. To have your name in the history books of the NBA, that’s big. That’s bigger than any of us here.”