Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...
The long standing record of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers remains intact with the Miami Heat losing after 27 straight victories, thank goodness.
I say this as the Heat are definitely an impressive team and possibly on their way to even more greatness. But the Lakers of 71-72 should not be eclipsed by this modern bunch and should be recognized for even more than just winning 33 games consecutively.
The Lakers were led by coach Bill Sharman with Jerry West, leading scorer Gail Goodrich, Wilt Chamberlain and Heat President Pat Riley doing the work on the court. While LeBron and the Heat approached the literal record by notching 27 wins in a row, they weren't matching the total dominance and even demolition that the Lakers put on the NBA. From November of 1971 through January of 1972, through 33 wins, the Lakers averaged outscoring opponents by 16 points per game! Of the 33 games, 23 were won by double digits, 8 were won by over 20 points and two were won by over 40 points! They basically rolled through the league and other teams not even creating much drama during their streak.
The Heat has averaged 8.9 points over their opponents during the 27 wins and had many games in doubt until asserting full authority late in the victories. While being able to display such a showing of confidence and authority is impressive, the Lakers ability to lead early and dominate throughout was equally, if not more, impressive.
Overall, comparing the streaks and eras is difficult. The size of the league has changed since 1972, the three point shot was implemented, and the schedule has changed dramatically. With modern travel conveniences and private team jets, the NBA schedule is grueling, but nothing like it was in 1972 on commercial flights. In addition, the player's union has negotiated scheduling guidelines that makes it easier today. During 1972, the Lakers had six instances of playing 3 games in 3 nights and began the streak by playing eight games in ten days! With travel differences, scheduling nightmares and far less expertise available in training and physical maintenance procedures, it is simply amazing a team could run off 33 straight victories.
The Lakers need to be known as more than a team who had a winning streak. Only one team has ever posted a better single season winning percentage. The Lakers are known for Showtime, Kareem and Magic, Kobe and Shaq, yet none of those players or teams accomplished what the 1971-72 squad did during one season. Other than one season, that Laker team won more games than any of Michael Jordan's Bulls. It definitely solidifies this Laker team as more than a winning streak and more than just a season champion.
Finishing just one game back of the Bulls 72-10 record at 69-13 with a 33 game winning streak is remarkable. In fact, if the Heat could have won and kept their streak alive even to the point of winning every remaining game this season (a 39 game winning streak) they still would have fallen one win short of what the Lakers accomplished. Of course, the Lakers won the NBA Championship that year so the Heat still have more steps to complete the comparison, but for now, the record should remain with the Lakers so that they may also be recognized for their overall greatness.
All this because I know more about nothing...
No comments:
Post a Comment