Despite being only the fourth team in NBA history to win 20 straight games, Miami is still a long way from setting the NBA record for consecutive wins. They are just 60 percent of the way there; they’ve got 13 more wins to go to tie it.
That record belongs to the 1972 Lakers, a team with Hall of Famers Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich, plus off the bench some guy named Pat Riley. They won 69 games that season and eventually a long-awaited NBA ring.
But several players from that Lakers team think the Heat could catch their 33-game streak, they told Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida.“It is certainly a possibility that the Heat could break our 33-game winning streak,” said Bill Sharman, the Hall of Fame coach of those legendary Lakers. “The record has held for 41 years, and all of us that participated in it are very proud to have been part of that season. However, (Heat president) Pat Riley has put together an amazing team, and I have to admit this one makes me a little nervous.”
“I’d say this is the most serious challenge we’ve had to our streak,” Hall of Fame guard Gail Goodrich, the leading scorer on the 1971-72 Lakers with a 25.9 average, said of the Heat. “I think they’ll make a very, very, very serious run at our record, They might even break it. They’re head and shoulders over the rest of the NBA. Who’s going to beat them? There’s not as much parity in the league now.”
These are competitive guys, they’d like to hold on to the record, but at least they aren’t going ’72 Dolphins with the thing. Besides, one of their own put this Heat team together.
Who broke the Lakers streak? The Milwaukee Bucks, who were the defending NBA champions and had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson.
Where do the Heat play next? Milwaukee on Friday. Just sayin’.