Bucks Stop Warriors Winning Streak

It had to end sometime, and the Golden State Warriors string of wins to start the season ended at 24 on December 12th, at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks.  The Bucks were led by Greg Monroe, who scored 28 in the 108-95 victory.  Stephen Curry had 28 for Golden State.

The streak reached 24 after a double overtime win at Boston on December 11th.  That victory also extended the Warriors’  total regular season consecutive wins to 28, going back to the end of last season.  This total was second only to the record 33 game streak set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.  Both of these streaks ended at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks were the defending NBA champs in the 1971-72 season, and featured future Hall of Famers Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar (who changed his name from Lew Alcindor after the Bucks won the ’70-’71 NBA title) and Oscar Robertson.  The Lakers had Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, and Pat Riley.  The streak ending game was played in Milwaukee on January 9th, 1972, and was nationally televised.  Yes, we watched the telecast.  Abdul-Jabbar led all scorers with 39 points in the 120-104 victory.

The Lakers, who finished the regular season with a record of 69-13, gained some revenge on the Bucks in the post season, eliminating the defending champs in the NBA Western Conference Finals four games to two.  They went on to beat the New York Knicks in five games to take the NBA title.