The Milwaukee Bucks made it look easy again on Monday, demolishing the New York Knicks 132-88 for their 12th straight victory. That win gave Milwaukee it’s longest winning streak since the 1980s and got us thinking about some numbers you should know from their run to date.
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1. Milwaukee’s winning streak is the longest in the NBA this season and the franchise’s longest since the 1981-82 season. The Bucks (18-3) own the league’s best record, ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers (17-3).
| First win | Last win | Number of games |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 6, 1971 | March 8, 1971 | 20 |
| Oct. 24, 1970 | Nov. 25, 1970 | 16 |
| Feb. 28, 1973 | March 27, 1973 | 14 |
| Oct. 17, 1973 | Nov. 13, 1973 | 13 |
| Nov. 10, 2019 | Dec. 2, 2019 | 12 (Current streak) |
| Jan. 26, 1982 | Feb. 21, 1982 | 12 |
2. Not surprisingly, this 12-game win streak has been fueled by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s play. He’s had a double-double in 11 of the 12 games and came one rebound shy of making it perfect in a Nov. 30 romp against the Hornets. That game ended his string of 19 straight double-doubles, but he got back to work on Monday night.
Antetokounmpo did so in amazing fashion needing just 22 minutes of game action to log 29 points and 15 rebounds against the Knicks. In doing so, he added another 25-point, 15-rebound game to his league-leading total this season.
| Player | Number of Games |
|---|---|
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 7 |
| Joel Embiid | 4 |
| Andre Drummond | 3 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 3 |
| Note: Stats through Dec. 2 | |
3. The Bucks are not only rolling up the wins, they’re rolling through opponents in the process. On Saturday, they beat the Hornets 137-96 (a 41-point margin) and followed that up with Monday’s 44-point victory against the Knicks.
They’ll have a shot at some unique history on Wednesday against Detroit as they can become the first team to log three straight wins of 40 or more points.
| Team | Game 1 opponent (Date) | Game 1 margin | Game 2 opponent (Date) | Game 2 margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Bucks | Hornets (Nov. 30, 2019) | 41 points | Knicks (Dec. 2, 2019) | 44 points |
| Dallas Mavericks | Warriors (Nov. 20, 2019) | 48 points | Cavs (Nov. 23, 2019) | 42 points |
| New York Knicks | Sixers (April 21, 1994) | 48 points | Bucks (April 22, 1994) | 40 points |
| Sacramento Kings | Mavs (Dec. 29, 1992) | 58 points | Sixers (Jan. 2, 1993) | 56 points |
| Phoenix Suns | Spurs (April 15, 1989) | 46 points | Kings (April 17, 1989) | 55 points |
| * No team has ever won 3 consecutive games by 40+ points | ||||
This scoring surge shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, though. After averaging a league-high 118.1 ppg last season, the Bucks again lead the NBA in scoring so far this season with 120.8 ppg. In addition to that, Milwaukee has scored at least 100 points in their last 44 regular season games dating back to Feb. 23 of last season.
4. As good as Milwaukee has been, there’s still a chance they could set more team records in the coming days.
The Bucks just passed the season’s quarter point and will play their 25th game of 2019-20 next week. The number 25 is significant because Milwaukee is on pace for perhaps its best start ever through that many games.
The Bucks’ next four games are as follows: at Detroit on Wednesday (7 ET, League Pass), vs. the LA Clippers on Friday (8:30 ET, League Pass), vs. the Orlando Magic on Dec. 9 (8 ET, League Pass) and vs. the New Orleans Pelicans on Dec. 11 (9:30 ET, ESPN).
A perfect run through those games would put the Bucks at 22-3 and give Milwaukee its best-ever start through the first 25 games of a season.
| Rank | Season | Record |
|---|---|---|
| T1 | 1970-71 | 21-4 |
| T1 | 1971-72 | 21-4 |
| T1 | 1973-74 | 21-4 |
| 4 | 1980-81 | 19-6 |
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Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
