The Celtics' streak, of record in the #NBA
The Boston Celtics
could not start this season in a worse way: they lost on the track of the Cleveland Cavaliers (102-99) in the first game of the regular season and what is worse, what was going to be one of their big stars, Gordon Hayward, signed this past summer of the Utah Jazz, was seriously injured in the tibia and will miss the entire course 2017/18.
Fruit of the shock suffered in the first game, the Celtics also lost the second against the Milwaukee Bucks (100-108) and with a 0-2 mark seemed that the season was going to be a real failure for the Massachusetts.
Nothing could be further from the truth. As if by magic, and by the hand of an impressive Kyrie Irving and some almost beardless Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the team led by Brad Stevens changed radically chip and began to chain victory after victory.
A streak that began with a triumph on the court of the Philadelphia 76ers (92-102) and that, to date, extends to 14 consecutive victories, the last of which against the current NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors (92-88).
These 14 consecutive wins are, by far, the best winning streak in the NBA (ie, this season) and, with its 14-2 record, the Celtics are, numbers in hand, the best team in the league .
Good precedents
But these 14 victories are not the best streak in the long history of the 'arrogant greens' ... although they are a good omen in the face of aspiring to the highest levels at the end of the season, ring included.
With his victory over the Warriors, the Boston franchise matched the winning streak in the 1957/58 and 1985/86 seasons.
In the first case, the Celtics reached the NBA Finals, where they lost to the St. Louis Hawks (4-2), but in the second they did with the ring after beating the Houston Rockets (4-2). ).
The next goal for Brad Stevens is the 16 consecutive wins that the Massachusetts signed in 1964/65, again with NBA title included, or the distant 17 they got in 1959/60, when they achieved the second of its eight consecutive rings.
Very happy also promised Boston in the 1981/82 season, when after a hesitant start (3-4), chained a total of 18 consecutive victories! But those Celtics led by Larry Bird ran into a Philadelphia 76ers commanded by Julius Erving that put an end to his great winning streak ... and, in addition, eliminated them in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The record of the 'Big Three'
The Celtics of the 2008/09 season came to be champions the previous year led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and their start of title defense could not start better: 27-2 and a spectacular streak of 19 consecutive wins ! But a KG injury in the final stretch of the season ruined the chances of signing a 'repeat'. That yes, they left a record of the franchise for the memory ... and still to overcome.
The 33 of the Lakers, an 'almost' unattainable dream
If we extend the look to all the teams in the league, we will discover that the current Celtics still have a long way to go until they reach the 33 wins in a row! signed by the Lakers of the 1971/72 season, with Jerry West in the lead, between November 5, 1971 and January 9, 1972.
Curiously, the teams that are closest to catch the Angelenos are already this s.XXI: the Warriors chained 28 wins in a row (in regular season) between 2014/15 and 2015/16; The Miami Heat signed 27 consecutive wins between February and March 2013 and the Houston Rockets stayed at 22 in early 2008.
RACHA VICTORIAS CELTICS
19 triumphs followed in 2008/09
18 consecutive wins in 1981/82
17 consecutive wins in 1959/60
16 consecutive wins in 1964/65
14 consecutive wins in 1957/58, 1985/86 and 2017/18
RACHA VICTORIAS NBA
33 wins in a row - L.A. Lakers in 1971/72
28 wins in a row - Golden State Warriors between 2014/15 and 2015/16
27 wins in a row - Miami Heat in 2012/13
22 consecutive wins - Houston Rockets in 2007/08
20 wins in a row - Washington Capitols between 47/48 and 48/49; and Milwaukee Bucks in the 1970/71
@desmoking-vnzla