Does Warriors' rough road start doom title hopes?

Golden State doesn't have the excuses those defending champions did, either. The 1969-70 Celtics lost Bill Russell to retirement. The 1998-99 Bulls lost Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and coach Phil Jackson. The 2002-3 Lakers played their first 12 games without Shaquille O'Neal after he had toe surgery, and the team went 3-9. Even the 1956-57 Warriors had to start the season without Hall of Famer Tom Gola. 

The Warriors have had their entire starting lineup available, aside from load management rests, and only backup guard Donte DiVincenzo has missed much time. They've gone 6-1 at home, but their poor record is dragged down by an inability to win on the road, including a winless five-game road trip.

There's never been an NBA champion who started the season as badly as 6-9. The 48-34 Washington Bullets started the 1978 season 4-6, but then went nine of their next ten games. The 2006 Miami Heat were 9-6 after 15 games, though they stumbled to 10-10 and barely won an overtime game to get to 11-10. Then they replaced Stan Van Gundy with Pat Riley and went 41-22 the rest of the way.

In fact, only two NBA champions have had a losing record through 15 games: The 1950-51 Rochester Royals and the 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs were both 7-8. The Spurs actually started 6-8, but then won nine games in a row, and finished the season on a scorching 31-5 run. The Royals had only won a single road game at that point, but Bob Davies, "The Harrisburg Houdini," got hot and they won five straight and 12 out of 14.

So it's not completely impossible for a team to shake off this kind of start and win a title - but it's only happened twice in NBA history. It's a tough road ahead for the Warriors - and this year, the road has been their nemesis.

The Royals had won only a single road game,