The Golden State Warriors hope to open 2017 the same way they waltzed through the last two calendar years when they host the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. En route to a championship in 2015, a runner-up finish last June and the best record in the NBA at Sunday's flip of the calendar, the Warriors recorded identical 72-12 marks the last two calendar years. The 144 wins were seven more than any other team had ever registered in consecutive years, topping the previous mark set by the Chicago Bulls in 1996 and '97.