Jeff Van Gundy: Heat can win 73
When Michael Jordan presents Scottie Pippen during his Hall of Fame induction this weekend, it's a safe bet the Chicago Bulls' record-setting, 72-win season of 1995-96 will find its way into the speech.
According to Jeff Van Gundy's thinking, it's a good thing Pippen is being inducted this year, because Van Gundy predicts that record might fall this season.
Van Gundy, speaking Monday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000, backed up a prediction he made to the Miami Herald that the Miami Heat can break the Bulls' record.
"I would think that everybody would think they would have a great shot at it," said Van Gundy, a former NBA head coach and current ABC/ESPN analyst. "I don't know if I said they will or they have a great chance, whatever I said, I just think if they're healthy, the discrepancy between their talent level and and the next level is so great, that I just don't see how they lose games. I think they're that good."
Van Gundy told the Herald that the Heat will break the record, and that they have a "legit shot" at the Los Angeles Lakers' 33-game win streak, which they set in the 1971-72 season.
"Erik Spoelstra is a heck of a coach, so they're going to be motivated to play well defensively, which is about coaching, and offensively they're going to be an absolute nightmare to deal with," Van Gundy said on ESPN 1000. "If LeBron James can win 66 games in the regular season with the guys he played with, who I think are better than people have given them credit for in Cleveland, then I think you add Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Mike Miller, it's not a stretch to say they can win six more."
Van Gundy backed off -- slightly -- from his claim that the Lakers are the only team that could beat the Heat in a playoff series.
"I think Boston -- with the [Shaquille] O'Neal signing -- has a legitimate chance as well," he said. "But I think those are the only two teams that have a chance in a playoff series to beat them."
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