Beating Lakers NBA record unlikely: Walton

Beating Lakers NBA record unlikely: Walton

LOS ANGELES - The Golden State Warriors are not planning an assault on the Los Angeles Lakers' all-time winning streak record after etching their names into history with the longest unbeaten start to a season in NBA history.

Golden State Warriors fans hold up signs celebrating the Warriors attempt to go 16-0 to start the season on November 24, 2015 in Oakland, California

The Warriors romped into the record books on Tuesday with a 111-77 blowout against the Lakers in San Francisco, stretching their perfect start to the season to 16-0.

The 16th consecutive win saw them move clear of the 15-0 start recorded by the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets.

Including matches from the end of last year's regular season, the Warriors have now won 20 straight games -- a feat achieved by only three other teams.

Yet the all-time record for consecutive wins -- 33, set by the 1971-72 Lakers -- is not on the agenda according to interim coach Luke Walton.

"Anything's possible. But is (33) likely to happen? No. Eventually we will lose," Walton warned.

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.

The former Lakers player said coaches had quickly encouraged the Warriors players to move on now that the season-start record had been achieved. The long-term goal remains a successful defense of the team's NBA Championship crown.

"We went by and congratulated each player. They are now in the record books," Walton said.

"We also reminded them that it's November," Walton continued. "This turned into a mini-goal a couple of games ago. We accomplished it. Now we have to make sure we don't drop off and give away a game just because we broke this record."

- Pretty cool -

Golden State next face Phoenix on Friday and Saturday are at home against the Sacramento Kings.

Few would bet against them extending their run on current form, where reigning MVP Stephen Curry has been scoring points for fun with a series of bewitching performances.

"To start the season 16-0 and do something that's never been done before in NBA history, it's pretty cool," Curry said Tuesday. "We want to keep it going."

"There's a lot of season left but we're on the right track. It's special. There's a lot of great players in this league and a lot of great teams -- nobody's accomplished what this team has.

"We're proud of this moment. We'll celebrate a little bit and then look ahead to Friday night," added Curry, who finished with 24 points in the blowout against the Lakers.

While the Warriors celebrated, the Lakers were left reflecting on another painful loss that underscored once more how far they have fallen since their NBA-Championship winning glory days of the previous decade, when they won five titles between 2000 and 2010.

Their 2-12 record is the worst in the Western Conference, and second worst in the entire league behind the hapless Philadelphia 76ers (0-15).

Lakers coach Byron Scott admitted his side's challenge against the Warriors had been futile.

"We had some times where I thought we were getting after them pretty good," Scott said. "But you're not going to rattle them. They're that good."

Lakers legend Kobe Bryant believes that the Warriors could conceivably break his team's all-time winning streak record of 33.

"Yeah, they could do it – because they're good," Bryant said. "It's a very young league, and they've managed to put together a team of extremely intelligent players and extremely versatile players, and great shooters. And so I see no reason why they couldn't continue to extend (the record)."

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