What Is the Longest Winning Streak in NBA History? The Lakers' 33 Still Stands
The Lakers won 33 games in a row and nobody has topped it. Here's the full list of the NBA's longest winning streaks, the best starts, the playoff record and where the Spurs' current run stands.
The longest winning streak in NBA history is 33 games, by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. They beat the Baltimore Bullets 110-106 on Nov. 5, 1971, and didn't lose again until the Milwaukee Bucks beat them 120-104 on Jan. 9, 1972 (NBA.com). More than 54 years later, nobody has gotten within five games of it in a single season.
I'm bringing it up because the San Antonio Spurs just won their 11th straight. They beat the Golden State Warriors 123-85 on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, after opening the game on an 18-0 run, and it's the longest active streak in the league (ESPN). So people are looking up how far 11 is from the record. The answer is 22 games.
What is the longest winning streak in NBA history? 33 straight regular-season wins by the 1971-72 Lakers, from Nov. 5, 1971 through Jan. 7, 1972. Second is 28 by the Golden State Warriors, but that one was spread over two seasons. The longest inside one season after the Lakers is 27, by the 2012-13 Miami Heat. In the playoffs, the record is 15 straight by the 2017 Warriors.
The Top 10 Regular-Season Winning Streaks
| Rank | Wins | Team | Season | How it ended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Los Angeles Lakers | 1971-72 | Lost 120-104 at Milwaukee, Jan. 9, 1972 |
| 2 | 28 | Golden State Warriors | 2014-15 and 2015-16 (4 + 24) | Lost 108-95 at Milwaukee, Dec. 12, 2015 |
| 3 | 27 | Miami Heat | 2012-13 | Lost 101-97 at Chicago, March 27, 2013 |
| 4 | 22 | Houston Rockets | 2007-08 | Lost 94-74 to Boston, March 18, 2008 |
| 5 (tie) | 20 | Milwaukee Bucks | 1970-71 | Lost 110-103 to Chicago, March 9, 1971 |
| 5 (tie) | 20 | Washington Capitols | 1947-48 and 1948-49 (5 + 15) | Lost 94-78 to Indianapolis, Dec. 7, 1948 |
| 7 (tie) | 19 | Los Angeles Lakers | 1999-2000 | Lost 109-102 to Washington, March 16, 2000 |
| 7 (tie) | 19 | Boston Celtics | 2008-09 | Lost 92-83 to the Lakers, Dec. 25, 2008 |
| 7 (tie) | 19 | San Antonio Spurs | 2013-14 | Lost 106-94 to Oklahoma City, April 3, 2014 |
| 7 (tie) | 19 | Atlanta Hawks | 2014-15 | Lost 115-100 to New Orleans, Feb. 2, 2015 |
Sources: Basketball-Reference for the top three and their dates, Wikipedia's list of NBA winning streaks for the rest, cross-checked against ESPN's list.
One thing that confuses people: you'll see the Warriors listed at both 28 and 24. The 28 counts the last four games of 2014-15 plus the first 24 of 2015-16. Lists that only count streaks inside one season, like Basketball-Reference's single-season table, give them 24. Either way, they're second or third, not first.
A few things jump out at me from that table.
The Lakers show up twice. The 1999-2000 team, the first Shaq and Kobe title team, won 19 straight. According to the Lakers' own history page, 19 is the closest the franchise has come to 33 since (NBA.com).
Only one of the top 10, the Washington Capitols run that spanned 1948, came before 1970. The big streaks are mostly a modern thing, which makes the 1971-72 number even stranger.
And the gap at the top is huge. Going from 27 to 33 means winning six more in a row after already being the second-best streak ever inside one season.
How the Lakers Won 33 Straight
The 1971-72 Lakers were not a young team. Wilt Chamberlain was 35 and Jerry West was 33, and Elgin Baylor retired nine games into the season because of his knees (NBA.com). They were 6-3 when the streak started.
New coach Bill Sharman moved Gail Goodrich into the starting lineup and got Chamberlain to focus on defense, rebounding and passing instead of scoring. Chamberlain averaged a career-low 14.8 points and still led the league with 19.2 rebounds a game. West led the league with 9.7 assists, and he and Goodrich both averaged over 25 points (NBA.com Lakers history).
Here's how the streak went, using NBA.com's dates:
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Nov. 5, 1971 | Win 1: beat Baltimore 110-106 |
| Nov. 1971 | Won 14 straight games in the month |
| Dec. 12, 1971 | Win 21: beat Atlanta 104-95, breaking the Bucks' record of 20 from the year before |
| Dec. 22, 1971 | Win 27: beat Baltimore 127-120, passing the 26-game streak of baseball's 1916 New York Giants |
| Dec. 1971 | Went 16-0 for the month |
| Jan. 7, 1972 | Win 33: beat Atlanta 134-90 |
| Jan. 9, 1972 | Lost 120-104 at Milwaukee. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 39 points and 20 rebounds |
Sources: NBA.com, NBA.com, NBA.com Lakers history
They won those 33 by an average of 17 points. The loss in Milwaukee came on 39.3% shooting and 24 turnovers, which tells you what it took to beat them. They finished 69-13, a record at the time, and beat the Knicks in five games for the franchise's first title in Los Angeles.
My dad Steve and I are Lakers fans, but neither of us remembers any of this. Steve was born in 1968, so he was a toddler, and I wasn't born until 1998. It's still the number every streak gets measured against, including the Spurs' right now.
Why Nobody Has Caught It
The three teams that got closest all ran into something.
The 2012-13 Heat (27). LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh won every game from Feb. 3 to March 25, 2013. The Bulls ended it 101-97 in Chicago on March 27. Six more wins would have tied the Lakers.
The 2015-16 Warriors (28 over two seasons, 24 in one). Golden State won its last four games of the 2014-15 regular season and then opened 2015-16 with 24 straight wins, the best start in NBA history. The Bucks ended it on Dec. 12, 2015. That team went on to finish 73-9, the best record ever (Basketball-Reference).
The 2007-08 Rockets (22). This is the one I find most interesting. Houston was 24-20 when it started on Jan. 29, 2008. Yao Ming broke his foot 12 games in and didn't play again that season, and the Rockets won the next 10 anyway with Tracy McGrady, Rafer Alston, Shane Battier and a 41-year-old Dikembe Mutombo. The Celtics ended it 94-74 in Houston on March 18 (NBA.com, CBC Sports).
My best explanation for why 33 hasn't been touched is that a streak needs everything at once: health, schedule, no rest games, and no bad shooting night against a team that's also good. Over two months that almost never lines up. The Rockets show it can survive one injury. It's a lot to ask for it to survive two months of everything.
Best Starts to a Season
Since a lot of people search for the best start, here it is. The Warriors' 24-0 isn't close.
| Wins to start | Team | Season |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Golden State Warriors | 2015-16 |
| 15 | Washington Capitols | 1948-49 |
| 15 | Houston Rockets | 1993-94 |
| 15 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2024-25 |
Source: Basketball-Reference
The Spurs can't get on this list. They lost their first two games of this season, to Oklahoma City on Oct. 20 and Houston on Oct. 23.
Home and Road Winning Streaks
These are separate records, and the Lakers' 33 shows up again.
| Record | Wins | Team | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 54 | Golden State Warriors | Jan. 31, 2015 to March 29, 2016 |
| Home, 2nd | 48 | San Antonio Spurs | March 15, 2015 to April 2, 2016 |
| Road | 16 | Los Angeles Lakers | Nov. 6, 1971 to Jan. 7, 1972 |
| Road, 2nd | 15 | Utah Jazz | Nov. 27, 1994 to Jan. 26, 1995 |
Source: Basketball-Reference
The Lakers' road record sits entirely inside the 33-game run. Sixteen road wins in a row is its own record, and they did it while also winning every home game.
The Longest Playoff Winning Streaks
The playoffs are a separate record. The 2017 Warriors opened the postseason with 15 straight wins and finished 16-1, the best playoff record in NBA history (Wikipedia).
| Wins | Team | Postseason(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Golden State Warriors | 2017 |
| 13 | Los Angeles Lakers | 1988 and 1989 |
| 13 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2016 and 2017 |
| 13 | New York Knicks | 2026 |
| 12 | Detroit Pistons | 1989 and 1990 |
| 12 | San Antonio Spurs | 1999 |
| 12 | Los Angeles Lakers | 2000 and 2001 |
Sources: ESPN, Wikipedia, Yahoo Sports for the Knicks' 13
Where the Spurs' Streak Stands
San Antonio is 11-2, tied with the Lakers for the best record in the West (ESPN standings). The Warriors game was an NBA Cup group game, and those count as regular-season games, so it counts toward the streak. Here's every game of the streak, with scores from ESPN.
| Date | Game | Score | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 24 | at Dallas | W 122-106 | +16 |
| Oct. 27 | vs. Sacramento | W 130-103 | +27 |
| Oct. 28 | at Utah | W 117-111 | +6 |
| Oct. 31 | vs. Minnesota | W 121-111 | +10 |
| Nov. 2 | vs. Utah | W 119-97 | +22 |
| Nov. 4 | vs. Dallas | W 112-111 | +1 |
| Nov. 6 | at Sacramento | W 124-109 | +15 |
| Nov. 7 | at Portland | W 125-103 | +22 |
| Nov. 9 | at Phoenix | W 122-96 | +26 |
| Nov. 11 | at Chicago | W 124-119 | +5 |
| Nov. 13 | vs. Golden State | W 123-85 | +38 |
Source: ESPN Spurs schedule. Dates are Central time, all 2026.
That's an average margin of 17.1 points, about the same as the 1971-72 Lakers' 17 during their run. It's only 11 games, so I wouldn't read too much into it, but they aren't sneaking by. Only two of the 11 were decided by five points or fewer.
The Friday win over the Warriors had context. Stephen Curry was out with an oblique tear, Stephon Castle scored a season-high 32, and Victor Wembanyama had 12 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes for his 121st career double-double (ESPN/AP). I made my case for Wembanyama in is Wembanyama already the best player in the NBA, and if you're wondering what counts as a double-double, I covered that in what is a double-double in basketball.
What's next on the schedule
The franchise record is 19. That streak started with a win over Detroit on Feb. 26, 2014 and ended with a 106-94 loss to Oklahoma City on April 3, 2014. To tie it, the Spurs need eight more wins in a row, which would take them to Nov. 29 in what's still only their 21st game of an 82-game season. (If you want the full schedule math, here's how many games are in an NBA season.)
| Streak game | Date | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Sun., Nov. 15 | at Utah |
| 13 | Tue., Nov. 17 | vs. Detroit |
| 14 | Thu., Nov. 19 | vs. LA Clippers |
| 15 | Sat., Nov. 21 | vs. New Orleans |
| 16 | Mon., Nov. 23 | at Sacramento |
| 17 | Wed., Nov. 25 | at Portland |
| 18 | Fri., Nov. 27 | vs. LA Lakers |
| 19 | Sun., Nov. 29 | vs. Boston |
Source: ESPN Spurs schedule
The first one looks friendly. Utah is 1-12 and on an 11-game losing streak. Detroit (8-3) and Boston (10-2) are the real tests, and game 18 would be against the Lakers, who are also 11-2 and have won seven straight of their own. As a Lakers fan, I'll admit I'd like to be the team that ends it.
The Spurs are also still unbeaten in NBA Cup play after the Warriors win. If you want to know how that tournament works, I went through it in how does the NBA Cup work.
My Take on the Spurs' Chances
Getting to 19 is realistic. Getting to 33 is not, and that isn't a knock on the Spurs. Teams just don't do this. Only four teams have ever won more than 20 in a row, and the Heat, the 2015-16 Warriors and the 2007-08 Rockets all came up short with lineups that were healthy and rolling.
I'd watch the Lakers game on Nov. 27 more than anything. If the streak is still alive then, it's a real story.
FAQ
What is the longest winning streak in NBA history?
33 games, by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. The streak ran from Nov. 5, 1971 to Jan. 7, 1972, and ended with a 120-104 loss at Milwaukee on Jan. 9, 1972.
What is the longest winning streak in one NBA season after the Lakers?
27 games, by the 2012-13 Miami Heat, from Feb. 3 to March 25, 2013. The Warriors had 28 straight, but it was split across two seasons.
What team had the best start in NBA history?
The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors started 24-0. Nobody else has started better than 15-0.
What is the longest playoff winning streak in NBA history?
15 games, by the 2017 Golden State Warriors, who went 16-1 in that postseason.
What is the Spurs' franchise record winning streak?
19 games, starting Feb. 26, 2014 and ending with a loss to Oklahoma City on April 3, 2014. That Spurs team won the title. As of Nov. 13, 2026, their current streak is at 11.
Who has the longest active winning streak in the NBA right now?
As of Nov. 14, 2026, the San Antonio Spurs at 11 games. The Lakers are next at seven.
Do NBA Cup games count toward a winning streak?
Yes. NBA Cup group games, quarterfinals and semifinals are regular-season games, so they count. Only the Cup championship game doesn't count in the standings.
Who ended the Lakers' 33-game winning streak?
The Milwaukee Bucks, 120-104 on Jan. 9, 1972. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 39 points and 20 rebounds.
Sources
Matt's first sports memories are Kobe dropping 81, LaDainian Tomlinson making defenders look silly, and Derek Jeter somehow always coming through in October. He's been hooked ever since.
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