Los Angeles Lakers 1971: All Time Longest Winning Streak of 33 Games in a Row
(Nov. 5, 1971 to Jan. 9, 1972 )
(Nov. 5, 1971 to Jan. 9, 1972 )
The defending champion, Milwaukee Bucks handed the Los Angeles Lakers their first loss after the Lakers won 33 consecutive games. Before the streak started on November 5, 1971, the Lakers record stood at 6-3. Two nights before losing to the Bucks, The Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, bringing their record to 39-3. In all but 7 of the 33 games, LA outscored their opponents by 10 points or more.
Game 7 of the streak, Lakers beat the defending champion Bucks.
The Bucks were one the Lakers victims during the streak. Kareem Abdul Jabbar scored 39 points in a losing cause. It was the first time the teams faced each other during the 1971-1972 season. During the 1970-1971 the Bucks beat the Lakers in 4 out of 5 games during the regular season. The two team met in the Western Division finals which Milwaukee won 4 games to 1. In most of the games the Lakers 7’1″ Wilt Chamberlain was out played by Jabbar.
Bucks Coach Larry Costello correctly predicts that his team will stop the longest win streak
After losing to the the Lakers, Bucks coach Larry Costello was impressed, even though at that point LA’s streak had only reached 7 games. “The Lakers are something, they don’t look like the same team we played last year”, he said.
Costello correctly predicted that the Bucks would end the Lakers 33 game winning streak. “We’re the champs”, he said, “They aren’t. They’ve got a winning streak; that’s all. We’re the champs until they beat us”.
Costello was right in every respect. They ended the Lakers streak, and they remained the champs, until the Lakers beat them in a rematch of the Western Division finals, 4-2.
LA finished the regular season with a 69-13 record. After beating the Bucks for the division championship, they swept Chicago to take the NBA championship.
