January 7, 1972: The NBA's Longest Winning Streak

Left to right: Gail Goodrich,

Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West

January 7, 1972, 50 years ago: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 134-90 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Atlanta. It is their 33rd straight victory, a record for North American major league sports.

To put this in perspective, here are the longest streaks in the other sports:

* Major League Baseball: 22, by the Cleveland Indians, from August 24 to September 15, 2017. From September 7 to 30, 1916, the New York Giants had 26 wins and a tie, but no losses.

* National Football League, regular season only: 23, by the Indianapolis Colts, from November 2, 2008 to December 17, 2009. However, they lost a Playoff game on January 3, 2009.

* NFL, counting the postseason: 21, by the New England Patriots, from October 5, 2003 to October 24, 2004. This includes winning Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004.

* NHL: 17, by the Pittsburgh Penguins, from March 9 to April 10, 1993. That streak ended with a tie 2 days later, 6-6 against the New Jersey Devils, in the regular season finale. The Pens then faced the Devils in the 1st round of the Playoffs, and stretched the streak to 20-0-1 before the Devils beat them on April 25 at the Meadowlands. The Pens then finished the Devils off, but their bid for a 3rd straight Stanley Cup ended in the next round, against the New York Islanders.

From October 14, 1979 to January 6, 1980, the Philadelphia Flyers had a 35-game unbeaten streak: 25-0-10.

The Lakers began their streak on November 5, 1971. Their 1st big star, Elgin Baylor, retired before the previous game, a home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Halloween. With Baylor, the Lakers had reached 8 NBA Finals -- and lost them all.

They were better without him. Jim McMillian took his place at small forward, along with Harold "Happy" Hairston at power forward, Jerry West at point guard, Gail Goodrich as shooting guard, and the one and only Wilt Chamberlain at center. The team also included future coach Pat Riley and Keith Erickson.

So, on November 5, at home at The Forum, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California, they beat the Baltimore Bullets, 110-106. They rest of the 1st 10: Golden State in Oakland, New York at home, Chicago away, Philadelphia away, Seattle at home, Portland away, Boston at home, Cleveland at home, Houston at home.

The next 10: Milwaukee at home, Seattle away, Detroit at home, Seattle at home, Boston away, Philadelphia away, Portland at home, Houston away, Golden State at Oakland, and Phoenix at home, 126-117 in overtime. That was the closest anybody came during the streak to stopping it.

The last 13: Atlanta at home, Portland away, Golden State at home, Phoenix away, Philadelphia at home, Buffalo away, Baltimore away, Houston at home, Buffalo at home, Seattle away, Boston at home, Cleveland away and Atlanta away.

Finally, on January 9, a nationally-televised game at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena -- "The MECCA" -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Lakers, 120-104.

The Lakers went 69-13 that season, setting a new NBA single-season record for wins, with a winning percentage of .841. That record would stand for 24 years. Even without the 33-game winning streak, a record that has not seriously been approached in any sport, they were 36-13, for a percentage of .735. In other words, take the streak out, and they were still on a 60-22 pace.

The Lakers went on to beat the Knicks in the Finals, to finally win their 1st NBA Championship in Los Angeles. They had previously won 5 titles in Minneapolis before moving to L.A. in 1960.