Warriors set record for best start, break Kobe Bryant in the process

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The record-setting 16th came easily, as had so many of the first 15. The Warriors have won a football season's worth of games without losing any, becoming the first 16-0 team in the NBA, and the MVP was on the bench by the end of the third quarter.

The Lakers certainly were no competition. The final score was 111-77, but the game effectively was over after a 22-4 run to close the first quarter. Warriors point guard Stephen Curry finished with 24 points, nine assists and no turnovers in 30 minutes, then took a seat to watch the final period.

But if the Warriors put on a clinic, the Lakers' living legend looked ready for one. Kobe Bryant finished the game early, too — the 37-year-old shooting guard was replaced with more than three minutes remaining in the third quarter — for very different reasons. After Lakers coach Byron Scott said Bryant had earned the right to take a boatload of shots, he tested his limits and finished 1 for 14 from the field, with four points and six rebounds.

Bryant played the worst game of his season, quite the feat for a player who entered the game shooting 33.1 percent from the field. But these Warriors play with the speed of five buzzsaws moving in choreographed motion, and that simply proved too much for the LA star. All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson tested Bryant early, but for the most part, the Warriors laid off the NBA's third-leading career scorer in favor of battering his younger teammates and letting him show his age on the other end.

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The opening to this season has been little more than an extended ring ceremony for the Warriors. They have won 11 of their 16 games by more than 10 points and looked even more inspired and untouchable than they were last season. The winning streak and a chance to break past a 15-0 tie with the 1948-49 Washington Capitals and 1993-94 Rockets inspired some perspective, sure, but they have never broken stride with the mission.

They opened the game with a 3-pointer from power forward Draymond Green, the surefire All-Star who was left open on the perimeter as recently as last season. Green closed the night on the bench, too, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and the same plus-36 on-court rating as Curry.

They closed the game with Ian Clark, the former NBA Development League standout, and Brandon Rush, the often-injured former Kansas swingman who may have been the most anonymous member of their championship team last season. Interim coach Luke Walton never needed to look back at the bench. The Warriors never needed to look back at the Lakers.

The Warriors don't need to look back at all.

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