Nearly an eighth of a lap has been completed on the NBA circuit, and the Warriors have been hot out of the gates. Simple math tells us that the Warriors have won 80 percent of their games, which extrapolates to 65.6 wins over the course of an 82-game schedule. To maintain that pace would be both unprecedented in franchise lore and an anomaly in league history (only 16 teams have ever won at least 65 games), but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate a fast start that has seen several rare feats accomplished by the Warriors. Let’s take a look at some of the historically significant milestones through 10 games.
The Last Time…
…The Warriors started a season 8-2 was in in 1975-76, or 39 years ago, with the team fresh off its lone Bay Area championship (a 4-0 sweep of the Washington Bullets in the 1975 NBA Finals). The defending champs finished the season by winning a franchise-record 59 games, but a Game 7 loss to the Suns in the Western Conference Finals prevented them from an opportunity to repeat.
…A team led the league in both field goal percentage and defensive field goal percentage was in 1980-81, when the Philadelphia 76ers led the league by shooting 51.4 percent from the field and holding the opposition to 45.1 percent. A trio of future NBA head coaches—Doug Collins, Maurice Cheeks and Lionel Hollins—joined Julius Erving on that squad that came within a game of the NBA Finals, falling to the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Warriors currently lead the league in both categories, hitting 49.9 percent from the field and holding opponents to 41.4 percent.
…The Warriors had a player register at least 200 points, 50 rebounds and 50 assists through the season’s first 10 games was in 1990-91, when Tim Hardaway accumulated those numbers in the second year of the celebrated Run TMC era. Stephen Curry has amassed those totals through 10 contests, recording at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of the season’s first five games.
…The Warriors led the league in field goal percentage was in 1993-94, when they converted on 49.2 percent of their attempts. Chris Gatling led the team by hitting 58.8 percent of his shots while Rookie of the Year Chris Webber hit 55.2 percent from the field that season. Golden State currently leads the league in the category and has outshot its opponents in all 10 games to start the season.
…The Warriors had two players score at least 200 points through the season’s first 10 games was in 1994-95, when Latrell Sprewell (264 points) and Tim Hardaway (233) accomplished the feat. Both Stephen Curry (248) and Klay Thompson (212) have reached the 200-point mark, even with Thompson missing a game due to injury for the first time in his career.
…The Warriors had a backcourt tandem both average 20 points per game over an entire season was in 2007-08, when Baron Davis (21.8 points) and Monta Ellis (20.2) combined for 42.0 points per contest. The last time any backcourt has seen a pair of players put up 20-per was a year later, in 2008-09, when Dallas’ Devin Harris (21.3) and Vince Carter (20.8) pulled it off.