The Boston Celtics have won fifteen straight wins after their first two games of the season. Tonight, they face the lowly Dallas Mavericks, which will likely offer little resistance to the surging Celtics team. As Boston fans would like to think, their favorite team’s 16th win is in the bag.
Should they beat the Mavericks, the Boston Celtics will only need to win three more games to tie their franchise winning streak record of 19 games. One more win after will immortalize the 2017-18 Celtics team in the Boston’s record book. But can they move past the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers team for the longest winning streak in NBA history?
Rewriting Celtics records book
The 2008-09 Boston Celtics team led by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen currently holds the longest winning streak for the organization with 19 games. This feat began on Nov. 15, 2008, when they won against the Milwaukee Bucks (102-97) and ended on Christmas night when they lost against the Los Angeles Lakers (83-92).
Incidentally, that game was their first encounter after their 2007 NBA Finals match wherein the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers would eventually win that season’s NBA Finals the season after that. That 2008-09 winning streak eclipsed the Boston Celtics’ previous longest winning streak of 18 games.
Matching franchise record
While it may still be a long road, fans can’t help but wonder whether the current Boston Celtics team is destined to make a new franchise record; perhaps even break the longest winning streak in the NBA. But what is the probability that they can do it this season?
The Boston Celtics will face the Dallas Mavericks tonight and they are expected to notch another win, which would bring their win-loss record to 16-2.
To match their current longest winning streak record, the Celtics would need to win three more games, and these will be against the Indiana Pacers (9-8), the Miami Heat (9-7), and the Orlando Magic (8-8).
The Celtics have already faced Miami and Orlando and Boston won both games. Boston has yet to face Indiana, which has won their last three games.
If they win their next four games, the Boston Celtics will match their longest winning streak. But can they win some more?
Setting a new NBA record
The road to immortality will be quite difficult after the game against the Indiana Pacers as they will next face the Detroit Pistons (Nov. 27). The Pistons currently hold the second-best record in the East with 11-5 win-loss record; however, they’ve lost two or their last three games and they will face the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder before visiting the Celtics at the TD Garden.
If the Boston Celtics able to subdue the Detroit Pistons, they will next face the Philadelphia 76ers (Nov. 30) who have found a winning formula after losing against the Celtics early in the season.
After these two grueling games, they are expected to roll past the Phoenix Suns (Dec. 2) before facing the Milwaukee Bucks (Dec. 4) for the second time this season. The Bucks are one of only two teams to beat the Celtics this season.
After hosting the Bucks, they will next face the Mavericks (Dec. 6) again before facing the San Antonio Spurs (Dec. 8) and again the Detroit Pistons (Dec. 10). After these two tough games, the Boston Celtics will face lighter opponents before the Christmas Day arrives:
- Chicago Bulls (Dec. 11)
- Denver Nuggets (Dec. 13)
- Utah Jazz (Dec. 15)
- Memphis Grizzlies (Dec. 16)
- Indiana Pacers (Dec. 18)
- Miami Heat (Dec. 20)
- New York Knicks (Dec. 21)
- Chicago Bulls (Dec. 23)
Should they win all their games until that game against the Chicago Bulls, it will push their win-loss record to 34-2. What a wonderful gift to all the Boston Celtics fans – setting the new NBA’s longest winning streak record!
