Clippers notch 14th consecutive winning season with rout of Nets

It's the fourth longest streak in NBA history.

(Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images)

There’s a contingent of kids across the globe who will enter high school this coming fall who have never seen the LA Clippers have a losing season.

Thanks to a 132-100 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, the Clippers have continued the NBA’s longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons, notching their 14th in a row thanks in large part to Kawhi Leonard’s 31 points.

The 14 consecutive winning seasons by the Clippers are tied for the fourth-longest streak in NBA history.

“It means a lot,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said after the team’s 10th win in their last 12 tries. “Just says a lot about this group. No matter who’s on the floor, they’ll compete to win games. It’s been everybody. Everybody’s stepped up in the absence of Norm [Powell] missing a lot of games, Kawhi’s missed a lot of games, and so guys are stepping up every single night. It’s good to see. I think being picked to win 35 games, to have 42 wins with nine games left, just says a lot about our group in the locker room.”

Lue hit on a key point.

Before the season, betting lines placed the Clippers at an over/under win total of 35.5. They blew past that mark on March 12. But adding a winning season on top of it is a beautiful feather in the cap of an organization that has prided itself on winning since Steve Ballmer bought the team in 2014.

“You could tell this organization wants to be competitive,” Leonard echoed following his 10-of-14 shooting display that netted him his third 30-point outing of the season. “Unfortunate things have happened to me where some of it falls on getting deep into the playoffs, but it’s always a blessing to have a winning season. These guys have been playing great all year to put us in this position. I’m pretty sure the front office enjoys this.”