FanNation - The Republic of Sport

melonhead said 02/12, 06:19 AM
There is too much time left in the season, and too many good teams out there to rule out a longer streak. It's not even the all-star break and the Blazers are

The Celtics already have 3 separate 9 game win streaks this year, and once KG is back after the All-Star break, they will be looking to show that the first half was not a fluke. Plus, they're in the East, where Detroit is currently on an 8 game streak.

The Spurs tend to turn it on in the 2nd half. Nobody wants to face them in the playoffs, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go on a long streak.

The Hornets have been great all year. 9 games is their longest so far.

The Rockets are currently riding a 7 game streak.

The Jazz just had a 10 game streak broken.

The Suns, if Shaq is half as motivated as he claims, will be dangerous. Last year they went on a 17 game win streak.

The Lakers, with Gasol and a motivated Kobe Bryant, have as good as shot as anyone.

There are mostly Western Conference teams, but any one of those mentioned has the talent to get hot and produce a 13+ winning streak before the year is done.

melonhead said 02/12, 04:19 PM
I agree that it will be tougher for a Western Conference team to have a longer streak. There are so many teams that are capable of going on a long winning streak that chances are they will come up against each other more often. But it's not the playoffs so you still play teams that aren't so great.

There are no gimmes on the schedule, but teams who are already "looking towards next season" are, more often than not, losing the rest of the way against a determined, elite team like those I listed.

I think that Detroit has a great chance to extend its current streak past 13 games. @ Atlanta, vs. Indiana, vs. Orlando, and a home and home with Milwaukee. All of those teams are beatable, especially since the Magic have to come to Detroit to play. It's reasonable to think that the Blazers' streak will be tied next Friday in Detroit, if/when they beat the Bucks. There are similarly plausible scenarios all over the league.

There's still 30-some games left in the season, and a winning streak could happen at any time. There are too many teams with potential, and too many games left, to rule out a 13+ game winning streak.

melonhead said 02/12, 05:38 PM
"I don't think any team in the league can match what the Blazers accomplished in December."

I took that to mean that we were talking about a 13 game, not a 14 game, streak. If Detroit loses to Phoenix in what would have been #14, they will still have matched the Blazers' streak.

Detroit is already 2-0 against Atlanta this year, so it's very unlikely they lose to them. They are 2-1 against Orlando, with the one loss coming by 2 in Orlando. The home-court advantage of Detroit, combined with the sting of the last loss, will help the Pistons avoid playing flat. Based on this season alone, Detroit has to be heavily favoured in both those games.

It was impossible to predict Portland doing it earlier in the season, and it's impossible to say with certainty that it will happen again. My main argument is that it's also impossible to deny that it will happen again to any of the other teams in the league.

The bottom line is that there are several teams with a realistic shot at winning 13+ games in a row, and it's more realistic to believe that one of them will during the rest of the season. Even if the Detroit streak falls apart, there is no shortage of teams ready to start a new one.