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31 straight wins: West's top teams are on a historic run

The Spurs, Lakers and Thunder lead the way as five Western Conference teams combine for 31 straight wins.

Ian Dardani, for NBA.com

Victor Wembanyama nearly posts a triple-double with 40 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks in a win over the Suns.

31 straight wins. That’s the combined streak of the West’s top five teams.

It’s a historic stretch: Never before in the conference era (since 1970-71) have the West’s top five teams all been on win streaks of 4+ games.

And on Monday, the three hottest squads kept rolling – while Victor Wembanyama kept defying logic.

Spurs 122, Suns 96: Since blocks were first tracked in 1973-74, there have only been 10 games of 40+ pts, 10+ reb and 8+ blk.

Wemby has accounted for two of them in the last week, following up Wednesday’s outburst with 40 points, 11 boards and 9 blocks last night – in just 25 minutes – as San Antonio extended its NBA-best win streak to nine games.

  • Big Company: Aside from Wemby, only two other players have multiple 40/10/8 games since 1973-74: David Robinson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • But Wemby’s Are Different: Of the 10 recorded 40/10/8 games, Wemby’s two required the fewest minutes, including Monday’s 25:21 – the only one in under 30 minutes
  • Because Wemby Is Different: At just 22, Wemby already has five career 40-balls in under 30 minutes, tying Steph Curry for the most all-time

Stephen Curry moves into 16th on all-time scoring list

Speaking of which … how about eight straight for the Dubs?

Warriors 138, Pelicans 87: Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg kept cooking (23 pts, 8-10 FG, 4-4 3PM, 7 reb), while Steph Curry and Brandin Podziemski each scored 25 as Golden State raced past the shorthanded Pelicans for its eighth win in a row.

  • Coach Jimmy: Sidelined but still scheming, Jimmy Butler rocked his coaching fit and drew up a simple gameplan: “Pass to Steph.”
  • Owning The Arc: It worked, as the Warriors drilled 21 treys on 44 tries (47.7%) to NOLA’s 8-for-28 (28.6%), outscoring the Pels 63-24 from deep
  • No Doubt: It resulted in the largest win this season (+51) and Golden State’s fourth-largest victory in franchise history
  • Cherry On Top: The last time the Warriors won eight straight? February 2022, the same season they last won it all

Luka Dončić puts up 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in a win over the Hawks in Atlanta.

As the Spurs & Warriors kept surging, the Lakers kept pace atop the West.

Lakers 124, Hawks 114: Luka Dončić’s streak of consecutive 40-pieces ended at four games, but Los Angeles’ win streak did not, as Dončić stuffed the stat sheet (32 pts, 8 reb, 10 ast, 5 stl) to lead the Lakers to their sixth straight W, improving to an NBA-best 10-2.

  • More Magic: It’s Luka’s fourth career game with 30+ pts, 5+ reb, 10+ ast and 5+ stl, tied for the 2nd-most in the NBA since steals were first tracked in 1973-74
  • Blazing Standard: How absurd has Dončić’s start been? His 32 points extended his streak of 30-pieces to eight games, yet lowered his season average to 39.3 ppg
  • The West’s Top Five Streaks: Lakers (W6), Spurs (W9), Thunder (W4), Warriors (W8) and Wolves (W4) = 31 straight wins

Copy was pulled from today’s edition of the Starting 5 newsletter!

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