72-10 has been matched

72-10.

That's a won loss record everyone recognizes and associates with the greatest single season team mark in NBA history.

I haven't seen anyone notice this or mention it, but with Golden State playing their 41st game tonight (and losing handily on the road in Detroit) and San Antonio having played their 41st game Thursday night when they beat the Cavs, those two teams have now played 82 combined games and have a nifty and eye-opening record of, you guessed it, 72-10.

GS is 37-4 and SA is 35-6. So 72-10 has been matched. But it took two teams two half seasons to do it.

We are watching two special seasons unfold for those two remarkable teams.  San Antonio's point differential of +13.9 is currently an all-time NBA record.  GS's +11.2 - it was +11.9 before their surprising 18 point loss to Detroit tonight - also still ranks among the best ever.

They meet on Jan. 25 in Golden State and won't that be a fun game to watch.  Even though we Celtic fans will be watching with more than a little bit of jealousy at what those two teams are currently doing this year.

Interesting, that 86 team jelled right after Christmas, but could have easily went for 70. What was their point differential Steve? That team so dominated on the inside both ends, but if they were playing in this era and emphasized the 3 ball with Bird, Ainge, Wedmen and Sichting I gotta believe they could do very well playing that style in this era.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Interesting, that 86 team jelled right after Christmas, but could have easily went for 70. What was their point differential Steve? That team so dominated on the inside both ends, but if they were playing in this era and emphasized the 3 ball with Bird, Ainge, Wedmen and Sichting I gotta believe they could do very well playing that style in this era.

cow - '85-'86 Celtics had a point differential of +9.4.

Thats shocking, I would have thought it was easily 12 plus, were so many games they owned the 3rd quarter and starters sat most of 4th.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Thats shocking, I would have thought it was easily 12 plus, were so many games they owned the 3rd quarter and starters sat most of 4th.

Celtics point differential for the '07-'08 season was +10.26.  When Boston got off to that 27-2 start the following year, for those 29 games their point differential was +10.37 but that team struggled a bit after that, going 35-18 the rest of the way and had a +7.51 for that season and finished at 62-20.

That '08 season, and getting off to that 27-2 start in '09 for a combined record of 94-17 (plus 15-3 in the '08 playoffs making it a 109-20 mark over 129 games with a championship to boot), had us thinking we would never lose.  Then came the injuries and the trade (I think cowens could tell us what trade I'm referring to).  Boy, the feeling of invicibility that no one could possibly beat us - anywhere, home or road - was fleeting.  But what a glorious stretch that was.  

By the way, that 109-20 mark is a winning percentage of .845 and over an 82 game stretch that translates into 69.29 wins.  That's the best 129 game stretch in Celtics history.  It was fun.  Actually, it was more than fun.  It was unbelievable.  What a thrill those days were.

May they happen again soon.  To bring that about I think our roster needs just a LITTLE bit of tweaking..........

Steve in 08 playoffs we were not 15-3.

and the 9.4 that I found strange, thought it would be much bigger, was on the 85-86 team, which you pointed out.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Steve in 08 playoffs we were not 15-3.

and the 9.4 that I found strange, thought it would be much bigger, was on the 85-86 team, which you pointed out.

Boston was in 15-3 in the playoffs in the '85-86 season.  Was remembering that post-season when thinking about '08.  In '08 we had some battles in those playoffs especially in the early rounds with Atlanta and Cleveland and went 15-10.  So that made our 136 game record from the beginning of '08 109-27.  I'll take it.

I hear ya, too bad KG got hurt, we woulda had a multiple title team and deservedly so....10 Finals refs stole from us.

steve3344 wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Steve in 08 playoffs we were not 15-3.

and the 9.4 that I found strange, thought it would be much bigger, was on the 85-86 team, which you pointed out.

Boston was in 15-3 in the playoffs in the '85-86 season.  Was remembering that post-season when thinking about '08.  In '08 we had some battles in those playoffs especially in the early rounds with Atlanta and Cleveland and went 15-10.  So that made our 136 game record from the beginning of '08 109-27.  I'll take it.

4 series 4 wins each in 08

16-10

beat

beat wrote:

steve3344 wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Steve in 08 playoffs we were not 15-3.

and the 9.4 that I found strange, thought it would be much bigger, was on the 85-86 team, which you pointed out.

Boston was in 15-3 in the playoffs in the '85-86 season.  Was remembering that post-season when thinking about '08.  In '08 we had some battles in those playoffs especially in the early rounds with Atlanta and Cleveland and went 15-10.  So that made our 136 game record from the beginning of '08 109-27.  I'll take it.

4 series 4 wins each in 08

16-10

beat

Beat. Correct. And I think 10 losses is the most post-season games anyone ever lost while winning a title. For as great a team as that was, too. And that team routinely pops up in discussions of the Top 10 NBA teams of all time, albeit in the bottom of the Top 10. But I've seen lots of articles mention that team when ranking past champions. Probably moreso because they won 66 games during the regular season (not that many teams won more) as opposed to the 10 losses they suffered post-season.

that team definitely forced the best player at that time to leave his franchise, because he knew he couldn't get past us.....and may have led to this new pace and space 3 ball strategy because we were so dominant defensively inside that teams had to get away from the interior and rely on the perimeter to attack.

say what you want about Perks warts, but KG and Perk at the 4-5 took away everything....and KG could cover and destroy those stretch 4's too. One of the great historic defenses of all time, top 2 or 3 even if they only won once.


Boy is this fun watching playoff football and talking hoops with all my homeys!!!!