Stephen Curry said Wednesday the Golden State Warriors are targeting the Los Angeles Lakers’ all-time winning streak record of 33 games – but stressed the NBA champions would stick to a strategy of taking one game at a time.
The Warriors set a new record on Tuesday for the longest unbeaten start to a season in history, routing the Lakers 111-77 at the Oracle Arena to notch their 16th consecutive victory.
The form of Curry and his teammates has prompted many analysts to wonder if one of the oldest records in the NBA – the Lakers’ remarkable 33-game unbeaten streak set in 1971-72 – could now be in jeopardy.
Curry said he had discussed an assault on the benchmark with his teammates, but assured reporters on a conference call the team would not get distracted by the pursuit of records.
“It’s important to have tangible goals that you can look at and work for,” Curry said.
“We do a great job of staying in the moment. Nobody really talked about the 15-0 record until last week when we got up to around 11 or 12 wins.
“You can’t really get too far ahead of yourself. There’s so much that can happen in this league over 82 games. The great teams are the ones that can focus on each individual game.”
Curry put the scale of the task of beating the Lakers record into perspective by emphasizing that the Warriors would need to double their current win streak.
“I’ve talked about the 33 more than anyone else on the team because I know about the history and how hard it is,” Curry said.
“We’ve had two 16-game winning streaks in the past two years and those are pretty special feats.
“For us to have to double that output, we’re going to have to play hard and hopefully close in on that record. But it won’t be disappointing if we don’t get there. If we get to 29 or 30 games we’ll talk about it a bit a bit more.”
Looking further into the future, Curry is targeting a place in the USA team at the Olympics next year.
Although a member of the USA squad which won the gold medal at the 2010 World Championships, Curry was bitterly disappointed to be omitted from the roster for the 2012 Olympics in London.
Making his Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro next year will be a “dream come true,” Curry said.
“To go back and represent my country and play with all the other great NBA talent on the Team USA roster is going to be a lot of fun,” Curry said.
“It will be here before you know it – the whole Olympic experience is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime memory.”
© AFP
