5 Longest NBA winning streaks in history

A relentless schedule combined with intense competition around the league makes it difficult for NBA teams to put together win streaks. Teams often look imperious during huge wins and then suffer a blowout loss the next night due to the intensity and demands of the league. This coupled with the fact that many of the teams have their star players "load managing" throughout the season ends up having an effect on the performances of the franchise. Due to this, the majority of the NBA struggles to even put together a 5-game winning streak over the course of the 82-game regular season, although the NBA's top teams have been able to buck this trend by winning upwards of 10 consecutive games.

The Golden State Warriors were among the teams to do this during the 2018-19 season, while the San Antonio Spurs had a 10-game streak in every season from 2010-11 to 2015-16. Nevertheless, every win gets more difficult as opposing teams look to end the streak, and here we will take a look at the 5 longest regular-season winning streaks in the history of the NBA.

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#5 Milwaukee Bucks: 20 Wins (1970-71)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played a huge role for the Bucks during the 70s (Picture Credit - Heavy.com)

The 1970-71 season was just the third of the Milwaukee Bucks' existence, although the new franchise defied the odds to become the fastest expansion team in history to win a title. Under head coach Coach Larry Costel, the Bucks posted 66 regular-season wins - also posting one of the longest win streaks in the NBA history.

Starting with a 111-85 win over the San Francisco Warriors on February 6, the Bucks went on a 20-game win streak and did not experience defeat again until March 9th as they fell to a thrilling 103-110 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

At the time, this was the longest win streak in NBA history, and only the four teams over the past five decades have managed to surpass the Bucks' streak.

#4 Houston Rockets: 22 Wins (2007-08)

Yao Ming was injured halfway through the Rockets' unbeaten streak (Picture Credit - NBA.com)

Back in the 2007-08 season, the Houston Rockets posted one of the unlikeliest win streaks in NBA history. While the Rockets had been among the favorites in the West heading into the season, they had struggled to adapt to Rick Adelman's new coaching system and had started with a 24-20 record. Nevertheless, beginning with a late January win over the Golden State Warriors, the Rockets finally hit form and wouldn't taste defeat until mid-March.

Over the next 12 games, Yao Ming played a starring role as the Rockets' offense proved too much for their opponents on a nightly basis. Adelman's side then suffered a huge setback when the Chinese superstar was ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury, although, Houston continued to play to their strengths, and players such as a young Kyle Lowry stepped up as they racked up 10 more wins.

The streak was eventually ended by the Boston Celtics, although Houston's 22-win streak remains the fourth-longest in the history of the NBA.

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#3 Miami Heat: 27 Wins (2012-13)

Miami's winning streak was snapped by the Chicago Bulls at 27 games

The Miami Heat made four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals following LeBron James' move to South Beach in 2010, and the 2012-13 regular season marked the peak of the 'Big Three' era in Miami. While LeBron collected many of the accolades, Miami could also call upon two future Hall-of-Famers in Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, and the team finished the regular season with a franchise-best 66 wins.

They also recorded a memorable 27 straight wins, which was at the time, the second-longest regular-season win streak in NBA history. Over 52 days, the Heat beat 20 different teams as James and company shot 51 percent from the field.

Miami were playing so well that many had experts had backed them to go on and surpass the all-time win streak record, although they eventually suffered a surprise defeat to a Chicago Bulls team that was missing Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose.

#2 Golden State Warriors: 28 Wins (2014-15/2015-16)

Steph Curry and the Warriors came close to breaking the NBA's win-streak record

Prior to dominating the 2015 playoffs, the Golden State Warriors picked up four consecutive wins to end the 2014-15 season. The first of these was a 116-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on April 9th, and the Warriors wouldn't taste defeat in the regular-season again until December.

After celebrating their first title win for forty years, Steve Kerr's team started their title-defense in excellent form and were largely untested as they racked up 24 straight wins to open the season. They were finally beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12th, marking Golden State's first regular-season defeat for 249 days.

Fueled by the performances of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors managed twenty-eight straight wins across two seasons, and despite their incredible start to the season, they eventually fell in the 2016 NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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#1 Los Angeles Lakers: 33 Wins (1971-72)

Wilt Chamberlain led the 70-71 Lakers to the best winning streak in NBA history (Picture Credit - Duke Basketball Report)

On Oct. 31st, 1971, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their third loss of the season as they lost to the Golden State Warriors. The result meant that the Lakers had made a 6-3 start to the season, although a team containing Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Pat Riley quickly set out to put together the most impressive streak in NBA history.

The sequence started with a narrow victory over the Baltimore Bullets on November 5th, and the Lakers wouldn't lose again until January 9th. The longest NBA winning streak is 33 wins by the Los Angeles Lakers from the 1971-72 season.

Lakers streak was finally snapped when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dropped 39 points and 20 rebounds for the Bucks during a 120-104 win, although the Lakers went on to capture the 1972 title.