Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, left, fouls Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 102-92. Wade and James were the key components of the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history. (AP)
In the 2012-2013 season, LeBron James and the Miami Heat won 27 regular season games in a row, the second longest streak in NBA basketball history. Although this streak is impressive, the longest streak ever was 33 games, which was started by the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 5, 1971. This streak is seen as an unbreakable record since the NBA is too talented now, and with back-to-back-to-back games it is hard to win night after night.
The 1971-72 Lakers won their first championship since moving to Los Angeles, finishing 69-13. The team was led by Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Pat Riley and Jerry West.
They won the championship and 33 games in a row, the longest streak in NBA, MLB, NHL and NFL history. Their 69-13 record stood for 24 seasons until it was broken by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
The Lakers won the first game of their streak against the Baltimore Bullets and kept winning until they lost on Jan. 9, 1972 against the Milwaukee Bucks. During the streak, their average margin of victory was 17 points, as the team averaged 98.4 points a game, while the backcourt averaged 51.7 – the most ever by a backcourt tandem.
As mentioned before, this is the longest streak ever in any professional major sport. The longest streak in the NHL is held by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won 17 in a row in the 1993 season. The Patriots hold the longest NFL streak, happening over the course of the 2003-2004 seasons where they won 21 games, including a 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII. In baseball, the 1916 New York Giants hold the longest streak with 26 straight wins.
Everyone knows that the longest streak in college basketball is held by the UConn Huskies, as the women’s team won 90 games from November 2008 to December 2010. In college football, the Oklahoma Sooners won 47 straight games in the 1950s, as they enjoyed a span of 1,500 days without losing. Finally, in high school football, De La Salle won 151 games from 1992-2003.
Matthew Kren is a staff writer for The Daily Campus, covering UConn volleyball. He can be reached via email at matthew.kren@uconn.edu.
