Breaking Down the Best Starts to a Season in NBA History

Where do the 2024-25 Cavaliers stack up?

Ty Jerome brings the ball up the floor during the Cavaliers' 114–106 win over the 76ers on Nov. 13, 2024. / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Flying out of the gate to begin an NBA season is not an easy task.

Basketball is a sport that discourages maintaining momentum for long periods of time—a sport that demands MLB patience from fans with NFL impatience. There will be frustrating back-to-backs and no-shows against lesser opponents. October's winners will not be November's winners; more often than not, neither will be June's winners.

Sometimes, however, a team catches just the right amount of fire to weather the season's early stretch unscathed. That is what is happening to the Cleveland Cavaliers right now, putting them in rare NBA company.

Here is a look at the 10 best starts in NBA history.

Longest Winning Streaks to Start a Season in NBA History

LENGTH (GAMES)	TEAM	PLAYOFF RESULT
24	2016 Warriors	Lost 4–3 to Cavaliers in the NBA Finals
15	1949 Capitols	Lost 4–2 to Lakers in BAA Finals
15	1994 Rockets	Won 4–3 over Knicks in NBA Finals
14	1958 Celtics	Lost 4–2 to Hawks in NBA Finals
14	2003 Mavericks	Lost 4–2 to Spurs in Western Conference finals
13	2025 Cavaliers	TBD
12	1983 SuperSonics	Lost 2–0 to Trail Blazers in Western Conference first round
12	1997 Bulls	Won 4–2 over Jazz in NBA Finals
11	1965 Celtics	Won 4–1 over Lakers in NBA Finals
11	1991 Trail Blazers	Lost 4–2 to Lakers in Western Conference finals
11	1998 Hawks	Lost 3–1 to Hornets in Eastern Conference first round
11	1998 Lakers	Lost 4–0 to Jazz in Western Conference finals

1. The 2016 Golden State Warriors

In 2016, the Golden State Warriors started the season by ripping off 24 consecutive wins on their way to a 73-9 regular season. Their first loss came on Dec. 12, 2015, in prime time against the Milwaukee Bucks—whose fans boldly printed up t-shirts anticipating the occasion.

As the Cavaliers fans reading this article doubtlessly know, the Warriors went on to lose the NBA Finals to Cleveland in seven games.

T-2. The 1949 Washington Capitols

Washington D.C.'s long-forgotten original NBA team. The Washington Capitols played their home games at the Uline Arena, which still stands as an office complex in the city's NoMa neighborhood. Their coach was Red Auerbach, 31.

The Capitols' 15-0 run was nearly snuffed out two games into the season, as Washington had to survive a three-overtime thriller against the Providence Steamrollers on Nov. 4, 1948. The squad's first loss came at the Indianapolis Jets on Dec. 7.

T-2. The 1994 Houston Rockets

This is the longest winning streak to begin a season by a team that wound up winning the NBA title. The one overtime game the Houston Rockets played during their run came against the Utah Jazz, who they would go on to beat in the Western Conference finals. The Rockets' streak came to a close on Dec. 3, 1993 at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.

Ironically, despite their hot start, Houston wound up the second seed in the Western Conference at 58-24. The first seed, the 63-19 Seattle SuperSonics, was upset by the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

Where do the Cleveland Cavaliers rank?

At 13-0, the Cavaliers are two games from tying the Capitols and Rockets. They would have to beat the Chicago Bulls Friday and Charlotte Hornets Sunday in a pair of winnable games before a dramatic encounter with the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

If we want to look far, far ahead—inappropriately far—Cleveland could theoretically tie Golden State's mark on Dec. 7 against the Hornets, and break it on Dec. 8 against the Miami Heat.

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