On Oct. 31, 1971, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors 109-105 to fall to 6-3. That was a decent enough start to any season in Lakers history. But the 1971-72 season for L.A. was like no other before it or since once the Lakers’ next game got rolling.
From Nov. 5, 1971 until Jan. 9, 1972, the Lakers made NBA history with their run of 33 straight victories. However, that streak came to an end in Milwaukee as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar notched 39 points and 20 rebounds to power a 120-104 Bucks win.
Overall, the Lakers went 70 days between defeats, but were doomed by shooting 39.3 percent and committing 24 turnovers against Milwaukee. The rest of the season went more than fine for the Lakers, though. They went 30-10 to close out 1972 and won the NBA title after losing in their eight previous Finals trips.
Since 1972, the 2012-13 Heat came closest to breaking the Lakers’ mark, winning 27 straight that season.
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