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First of all, I have to say this- the Spurs have ELEVEN consecutive wins. The Spurs have hit 11 total straight wins on eight previous occasions. Two of those were during Championship runs. The first time was late in 2002-2003 season when they won their second NBA title. They also kicked off their 2013-2014 campaign with an eleven game streak. Later that season they eventually had a nineteen game run, their longest in franchise history, but hopefully that will be a discussion for a future post.
In the 2011-2012 season, they accumulated two 11-game streaks over the final 10 weeks of the season. This led into a sweep of the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, followed by a sweep of the Clippers in the second round, and eventually taking a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
They eventually lost to the younger OKC squad in the next four games, a most disastrous outcome after amassing a 20-game overall winning streak. But even then it was obvious the team was onto something special. They made the Finals the following two years, coming up short in 2013 and then dismantling the Heatles super team — and picking up their fifth Larry O’Brien — in 2014.
The Spurs had one 12-game streak at the start of their 2010-2011 season. They could repeat this feat on Sunday, but it will not be easy.
To win twelve straight they have to beat the New York Knicks, the third best record in the Eastern Conference, in Madison Square Garden. So far this season, they split games with the Knicks. They lost the Emirates Cup Finals (which did not effect their overall record but did supply the Knickerbockers with bragging rights). However, they did win at home on New Year’s Eve when Julian Champagnie finished with a team-high 36 points on 11 three-pointers.
The Big Apple native definitely likes playing to his hometown crowd. Champagnie must mark his calendar for those New York opponents as the Spurs sharpshooter scored 26 points while hitting 6 of 9 three-pointers against Brooklyn on Thursday night. If he can maintain that intensity, he and the Spurs could ride the game into Philly on a 12-game heater.
What do these streaks mean? Most directly, it’s an impressive show of strength and an alignment of players and goals. In a few cases, they are a build up to a title run. In others, it’s just a sign of where the team is at that specific moment in time.
This season, between December 27 and January 13, the Spurs went 4-6 losing by double-digits to Utah, Cleaveland, and OKC. In that moment, most pundits were not considering the Spurs for title contention despite them beating the Thunder in 3 of their 4 meetings.
Now, as the Spurs have shown resilience against the top teams, the streak helps illuminate their emergence as a contender at a quicker pace than originally anticipated.
That said, any streak must be taken with a grain of salt in the same way a blowout loss or two is not the end of the world.
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