33! A STREAK TO REMEMBER
A GAME 1 Vs. BALTIMORE
110-106
Nov. 5, 1971: A day before, with Los Angeles at 6-3 in the young season, Laker legend Elgin Baylor, beset by bad knees, announces his retirement. Forward Jim McMillian steps into the starting lineup against Baltimore and provides a 22-point, 13-rebound performance. L.A. gets another boost from the bench when guard Flynn Robinson (at left, versus the Bullets' Wes Unseld) gets 10 points, six assists.
GAME 2 AT GOLDEN STATE
105-89
Nov. 6: The "new-look Lakers," picking up the running game urged on them by coach Bill Sharman, waltz past the Warriors. Guard Jerry West scores 30.
GAME 3 Vs. NEW YORK
103-96
Nov. 7: Center Wilt Chamberlain dominates with 22 rebounds, six blocked shots. "Things are going well now," notes the Dipper, age 35, after he subdues the Knicks' Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and Wall Frazier (below). "You know, a guy who lakes care of himself might play this game until he's 40."
GAME 4 AT CHICAGO
122-109
Nov. 9: The Bulls are buried by McMillian (28 points) and guard (.ail Goodrich (24 points). In the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, writer Mitch Chortkoff notes, "You sense that a trend is developing."
GAME 5 AT PHILADELPHIA
143-103
Nov. 10: The Lakers humiliate the 76ers, prompting Sharman to offer to call off practice the next day. The Lakers decline. Chamberlain questions some of Sharman's coaching techniques, but adds, "You can't argue with success, and we're 11-3."
A GAME 6 Vs. SEATTLE
115-107
Nov. 12: With the Sonics ahead 65-50, West triggers a rally. Chamberlain (above, 13) grabs 22 rebounds; McMillian (5) scores 27 points. With a brief moment in the limelight, seldom-used sub Pat Riley (far right) scores zero points in his six minutes.
GAME 7 AT PORTLAND
130-108
Nov. 13: Former Trail Blazer Leroy Ellis, sold to the Lakers in the off-season for $75,000 and a draft pick, returns to a two-minute standing ovation and then embarrasses the Blazer brass by scoring 27 points.
GAME 8 Vs. BOSTON
128-115
Nov. 14: With old nemesis Bill Russell looking on, Chamberlain gets 31 rebounds and goes 31 minutes without taking a shot. Says Wilt, "By 1980 I'll be a forgotten religion. I'll just be remembered vaguely as the guy who was lousy at the free throw line."
GAME 9 Vs. CLEVELAND
108-90
Nov. 16: Cav rookie Austin Carr (left, 22), the NBA's No. 1 draft pick, makes a tepid pro debut, with five points. He isn't the only cold performer. Chilly temperatures inside the Fabulous Forum bring loud complaints from the Lakers, who nevertheless stay hot enough to keep I he streak burning.
GAME 10 Vs. HOUSTON
106-99
Nov. 19: The Lakers nearly blow an 18-point fourth-period lead. "We played badly and we still won," says Sharman. "And I'll take it."
GAME 11 Vs. MILWAUKEE
112-105
Nov. 21: Showdown. The Bucks, defending NBA champions, have won 10 of their last 11. The Lakers lead 59-58 after two periods. In halftime ceremonies, Elgin Baylor hands his Laker uniform to owner Jack Kent Cooke and gets a standing ovation from 17,505 in the Forum. Los Angeles dominates in the third period and wins despite 39 points by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "The Lakers seem to have jelled," says Kareem.
GAME 12 AT SEATTLE
139-115
Nov. 25: Goodrich (right, 25) scores 18 as the win sets a club record for consecutive victories. In the third quarter, Sonics guard Lee Winfield steals the ball and heads for an easy layup. Suddenly, from out of the firmament appears Chamberlain, who swats the shot away. The Lakers are ahead by 25 points at the time.
GAME 13 Vs. DETROIT
132-113
Nov. 26: Wilt wreaks havoc with 31 points, 31 boards. "He played like he was in his second childhood," says Piston center Bob Lanier.
GAME 14 Vs. SEATTLE
138-121
Nov. 28: First-time starter Riley steps in for a flu-ridden McMillian and scores 20 points. The Lakers complete the first perfect month in NBA history.
GAME 15 AT BOSTON
124-111
Dec. 1: Hoop prognosticators predict a Laker fall, but West, fully recovered from an ankle injury, scores 45.
GAME 16 AT PHILADELPHIA
131-116
Dec. 3: Prognosticators again predict the end. The Lakers fall behind by 17 points, but McMillian, just out of his sickbed, gets 41. The streak survives.
GAME 17 Vs. PORTLAND
123-107
Dec. 5: As has become their custom, the Lakers play poorly against a weak team. But steady starting forward Happy Hairston (left, 52) leads the way with 20.
GAME 18 AT HOUSTON
125-120
Dec 8: Against the 6-21 Rockets, the Lakers trail by three in the fourth. This time it's Goodrich to the rescue with 42 points. Says West (9 for 20), "There were midgets guarding me and I still couldn't score."
GAME 19 AT GOLDEN STATE
124-111
Dec. 9: The Lakers shoot 56% (their average for the streak thus far is 48.7%) and knock off the Warriors. Even Chamberlain is impressed. "A lot of streaks are predicated on luck," he says. "This one isn't. We haven't even had many close games."
GAME 20 Vs. PHOENIX
126-117
Dec. 10: Wilt has spoken too soon: This one's close, very close. The Suns' Connie Hawkins misses a shot at the buzzer in regulation, and the game moves into OT. Goodrich has seven points in the last 2½ minutes of overtime; 17,505 dance in the aisles at the Forum as the Lakers tie the NBA record for consecutive wins, held by the 1970-71 Bucks.
GAME 21 Vs. ATLANTA
105-95
Dec. 12: The record breaker. West holds Pete Maravich (right) to 19, scores 26 himself. At 96-95, Wilt slams down a demoralizing dunk, and No. 21 is history. Afterward, Wilt's mood is light: "I read that McDonald's has sold eight billion hamburgers. That means every person in the country would have to eat 25. And I've never had one, so some guy would have to eat 50."
GAME 22 AT PORTLAND
129-114
Dec. 14: Laker letdown. Sharman promises to give his starters some rest, but 26 L.A. turnovers force him to keep the first team on the floor for most of the game.
GAME 23 A Vs. GOLDEN STATE
129-99
Dec. 17: Nate Thurmond (above) holds Wilt to seven points, but to no avail. The closest thing to a Laker crisis comes when McMillian leaves with a split shoe—whereupon Riley enters, hits his first shot and finishes with 15.
GAME 24 AT PHOENIX
132-106
Dec. 18: The Suns are hot (11 of their last 13) and a record crowd packs the Vets Memorial Coliseum. The L.A. streak is now a major phenomenon. The "experts" again predict the end, noting that the Suns arc big and physical. Not big enough. Lakers romp.
GAME 25 Vs. PHILADELPHIA
154-132
Dec. 19: Everybody joins in as nine Lakers score; supersub Ellis (above, versus Al Henry) gets 12 points, six rebounds. But Chamberlain reigns: 32 points, 34 rebounds. It is noted that Abdul-Jabbar will likely start the All-Star Game for the West, but Sixer forward Billy Cunningham says, "The way I see it, Wilt is the most valuable player in the league."
GAME 26 AT BUFFALO
117-103
Dec. 21: A new threshold beckons. With a win here, the Lakers will tie the record for the longest winning streak in professional sports, 26 in a row by the 1916 New York Giants baseball team. The game becomes the Wilt & West show, with 64 points between them.
GAME 27 AT BALTIMORE
127-120
Dec. 22: The Lakers bounce the Giants' record. But, says Chamberlain, "Look at it this way. We've won 27 in a row and we're one game ahead of the damn Milwaukee Bucks." Actually, the Bucks are 2½ back in the West; already people are buzzing about the Lakers-Bucks clash in Milwaukee in two weeks.
GAME 28 Vs. HOUSTON
137-115
Dec. 26: The Forum's in a frenzy as Wilt scores on an alley-oop from West, then off a behind-the-back feed from Goodrich. "We're the best entertainment package in town," says West. The Rockets' Calvin Murphy has to play the fall guy (below) on a pick by John Trapp for Robinson (21).
GAME 29 Vs. BUFFALO
105-87
Dec. 28: How big is this streak? On the previous afternoon, 14,500 show up at the Forum on a rainy day for a Laker workout. Just before tonight's game, the sellout gathering gives Sharman a spontaneous standing ovation as he steps onto the floor. Crowd goes home happy as Hairston scores 19, gets 14 rebounds.
GAME 30 AT SEATTLE
122-106
Dec. 30: Seattle's got beat-the-streak fever, and the crowd goes crazy as the Sonics go up 83-82 in the fourth. The fun stops there; a few minutes later it's 106-89 Lakers. A few minutes later, it's 30 in a row. (Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles in Pauley Pavilion, Bill Walton and UCLA are beating Ohio State 79-53, the Bruins' 23rd consecutive win in a streak that will reach 88.)
GAME 31 Vs. BOSTON
122-113
Jan. 2, 1972: Led by center Dave Cowens, the Celtics—hottest team in the East—erase most of a 24-point deficit and pull to 104-99. That's as close as they get.
GAME 32 AT CLEVELAND
113-103
Jan. 5: The Lakers dazzle observers even before the game starts by selling out the Cleveland Arena against the hapless Cavs. "It'll be different without all those empty seats," says Cleveland coach Bill Fitch. "I hope my players adjust." They do. The Cavs lead 99-94 until Chamberlain blocks lour shots in less than two minutes and the Lakers score 15 straight.
GAME 33 AT ATLANTA
134-90
Jan. 7: The easiest win of the streak. "Our best game," says Sharman. Hawk coach Richie Guerin has seen all he needs to see: "I like [the Lakers] better than the Bucks now." It's time for the big battle.
GAME 34 AT MILWAUKEE
104-120
Jan. 9: Sunday afternoon, national TV. The Lakers go flat, and Kareem goes wild. Abdul-Jabbar (above) scores 39 points as West (44), Hairston (52) and Goodrich (25) try to stop him. "It's not the streak," says Goodrich afterward. "It's the fact we lost to the team that's our biggest threat to a world title." Three months later the Lakers will get their revenge, beating the Bucks four games to two in the conference finals before knocking off" the New York Knicks for the championship.
EIGHT PHOTOS
WEN ROBERTS/PHOTOGRAPHY INK
THREE PHOTOS
SHEEDY & LONG
PHOTO
HEINZ KLUETMEIER