In the NBA, three teams are currently performing at a .850 or better clip, with the Cavaliers, Lakers and Celtics on pace to win 69.7, 73.4 and 74.5, respectively. The record for most wins in a season is 72, put up by the 1995-96 Bulls. No other team has ever won 70 (those same Bulls won 69 the following year, as did the ’71-’72 Lakers). Keep in mind that the season is approximately one-quarter completed, and that all three play in divisions where they are the only team which has scored more points than it has allowed (much like in baseball, this is more predictive of the team’s future performance than their actual record). The chances are small that any of them get to 72, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of them makes a run at 70.
In the NHL, an even more ridiculous story is slowly unfolding, as the San Jose Sharks currently reside atop their conference at 22-3-2, which includes a flawless 14-0-2 home record. Only three other teams in the league have 18 wins (classic Detroit-Boston-NY Rangers trio). I don’t think anyone is going to be comparing the Sharks to the ‘76-’77 Canadiens anytime soon (or at least I hope not), but this sort of domination in a sport that just wrecks players is extremely rare. Especially when your goalie is sporting a Save Percentage under .900. This puts Evgeni Nabokov in a tie for 35th place among goalies who have played at least 9 games this season. There are 30 teams in the NHL. If Nabokov regressed to even average performance, the Sharks might actually give the Canadiens and ‘95-’96 Red Wings a run for their money.
A deeper question might be at which point we start tracking these numbers (if you are one of the 5 people in the world who like both the NBA and the NHL). My bet is that the NBA record becomes a big deal if any of the teams reach the All-Star Break with fewer than 6 -7 losses.* I doubt the NHL record will become a topic until the very last week of the season, if not the last game. What a difference 15 years makes.
* Like MLB, the NBA All-Star game comes closer to the 60-65% mark in games, so a great team would be 46-6 or something similar.