Can Heat set record for NBA’s longest winning streak?

MIAMI - Twenty-three consecutive victories? Zero losses in more than six weeks? An 11½-game lead in the Eastern Conference?The Heat’s winning streak, now the second longest in NBA history after a comeback victory over the Celtics on Monday, is silly, the type of thing that will break a calculator. For context, flipping a coin and getting heads 23 times in a row is roughly a one-in-eight-million proposition. Sure, the Heat have a much better than 50 percent chance to win on an average night, but even if you use their current winning percentage (a league-best .788), the probability of winning 23 times in a row absent all other variables amounts to a one-in-240 (0.4 percent) shot. That’s a lot better than one in eight million, but you certainly wouldn’t have bet your house on it in January.LeBron James and Co. are clearly hungry for more history, regardless of the odds. With the Celtics beaten (and demolished in Jason Terry’s case), the Heat pulled ahead of the 2007-08 Rockets, who improbably won 22 straight games, and now turn their attention to the 1971-1972 Lakers, who won an NBA-record 33 games in a row from Nov. 5, 1971, to Jan. 9, 1972. Those Lakers, led by Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, went 69-13 in the regular season and 12-3 in the playoffs en route to winning a championship.Ten more victories to tie the record. Eleven more to break it. Can the Heat do it?The Heat’s streakMiami’s last loss came 46 days ago, on Feb. 1 against the Pacers in Indiana. Since then, Miami has dispatched 12 teams that are currently in playoff position and 11 teams in line for the draft lottery. Miami has defeated 19 different opponents during the streak, handling the Sixers three times and the Raptors and Hawks twice each. (The Heat have beaten all 29 opposing teams this season.)Only one opponent during the streak, lowly Sacramento, has pushed the Heat to overtime. But coach Erik Spoelstra’s team has had a number of close calls, including two in the past week (an ugly four-point win over the Sixers last Wednesday in Philadelphia and the down-to-the-wire thriller against the Celtics on Monday). They’ve had their share of blowouts, too, crushing the Clippers by 22 points for their fourth victory in a row and dominating the Sixers by 24 points to extend the streak to 10.Over the 23 games, Miami is winning by an average score of 105.4 to 94.2, a staggering 11.2-point margin of victory. The offense, which ranks No. 2 in efficiency, has jumped from 109 points per 100 possessions before the streak to 113 points per 100 possessions during the streak, according to NBA.com. The defense, which ranks No. 9 in efficiency, has similarly improved, from 101.6 to to 99.9. The numbers reveal exactly what you would expect: This has been an absolutely commanding stretch of hoops, on both sides of the ball.The Heat’s upcoming scheduleThe good news for Miami: The competition standing between the Heat and the 11 consecutive victories needed to set the record is substantially easier than what they have already vanquished. Through Monday, the combined record of the teams beaten during the 23-game run was 734-796 (.480). The combined record of Miami’s next 11 opponents is 300-434 (.409). What’s more, Miami beat four of the six teams with 40 or more victories this season during their streak; they will face only one such team, San Antonio, over the next 11.There’s more good news. The Heat’s streak has included six sets of back-to-backs. The upcoming 11 games include only two back-to-backs, and both involve the Bobcats, the league’s worst team. (Miami plays Charlotte and Orlando on Sunday and Monday and then Charlotte and Philadelphia on April 5 and 6.) Note: The 11th game, which would be the record breaker, is against the Bucks in Miami on April 9 on the front end of a back-to-back. If the Heat make it to 34, perhaps commissioner David Stern can move their April 10 against the Wizards in Washington to the White House, where Barack Obama could present them with the 2013 Larry O’Brien trophy in advance.The home/road splits have been fairly equal during the 23-game streak, and that won’t change. Twelve of Miami’s 23 victories have come at home and 11 on the road. In the next 11 games, five will be at home and six on the road.The Heat aced a four-game road trip in February and can put the finishing touches on a five-game road trip in Cleveland on Wednesday. After home games against Detroit and Charlotte later this week, they will have a four-game trip that includes trips to Chicago and San Antonio — clearly the toughest patch on the road to 34. Miami is a league-best 30-3 at home and will play host to only two likely playoff teams in the next 11 games: New York and Milwaukee.Miami’s complete schedule in the next 11 games:Friday, March 22: vs. DetroitSunday, March 24: vs. CharlotteMonday, March 25: at OrlandoWednesday, March 27: at ChicagoFriday, March 29: at New OrleansSunday, March 31: at San AntonioTuesday, April 2: vs. New YorkFriday, April 5: at CharlotteSaturday, April 6: vs. PhiladelphiaTuesday, April 9: vs. Milwaukee