On This Day in Sports: January 9, 1972
On January 9, 1972, at Milwaukee Arena, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 120–104 and ended the longest winning streak in NBA history. Los Angeles had won 33 consecutive games since beating the Baltimore Bullets on November 5, going 70 days without a loss. The matchup placed the league’s hottest team against the defending champion Bucks, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Abdul-Jabbar produced 39 points and 20 rebounds, while Milwaukee’s defense held the Lakers to 39.3 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers. The result stopped a record chase that had already surpassed every earlier NBA streak.
Los Angeles entered the 1971–72 season with an experienced core of Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Jim McMillian, and Happy Hairston under new coach Bill Sharman. After a 6–3 start, the Lakers developed a balanced style built on rapid ball movement, rebounding, and a fast break that made sustained pressure difficult to resist. They won every remaining game in November, swept December, and opened January with three more victories. The run passed the previous NBA record of 20 straight wins, which Milwaukee had set one season earlier. By the time the Lakers arrived in Wisconsin, every opponent was trying to become the team that finally stopped them.
Milwaukee succeeded by controlling the interior and disrupting Los Angeles before the Lakers could establish their normal rhythm. Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring and rebounding anchored the victory, but the Bucks also received balanced support while limiting clean opportunities for West, Goodrich, and Chamberlain. The 16-point margin made the ending decisive rather than controversial. Still, one loss did not reveal a collapse. Los Angeles went 30–10 after the streak, finished 69–13, and later defeated Milwaukee in six games in the Western Conference finals. The Lakers then beat the New York Knicks to win the franchise’s first championship since moving to Los Angeles.
The 33-game streak remains the NBA record and one of the most durable marks in major American professional sports. The 2012–13 Miami Heat came closest in the NBA with 27 consecutive victories, still six short. Milwaukee’s win also preserved an important distinction between a record streak and a complete season: the Bucks owned the night that ended the run, while the Lakers ultimately claimed the championship. The game is remembered both as a showcase between Abdul-Jabbar and Chamberlain and as proof that even a historically dominant team could be slowed by elite size, disciplined defense, and an opponent with championship experience of its own.
Los Angeles began the season 6–3 before winning 33 straight games from November 5, 1971, through early January 1972. The run included unbeaten months in November and December.
Milwaukee was the defending NBA champion and had set the previous league record of 20 consecutive victories. The game matched two veteran teams with dominant centers.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recorded 39 points and 20 rebounds as Milwaukee won 120–104. The Bucks held Los Angeles below 40 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers.
The defeat ended the streak, not the Lakers’ season. Los Angeles still finished 69–13, eliminated Milwaukee in the conference finals, and won the NBA championship.
No NBA team has matched 33 consecutive victories. Miami reached 27 in 2013, the closest challenge to the record since Milwaukee stopped Los Angeles.
The game endures as a meeting of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain at the center of two elite teams, separating a historic regular-season run from the title that followed.
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