That would be the Milwaukee Bucks. In each case, it was also a home game. The Bucks Stop(ped) Here.
But in 1971, Milwaukee had won the championship over the Washington Bullets in four straight. In the semis, it was just five games for the Bucks to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. And just two seasons earlier, in their first NBA season, they won only 27 games. What changed all that? The Flip!
The flip of a coin in the 1969 draft brought them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Then know as Lew Alcindor) and 56 wins. The Bucks made it all the way to the final four before bowing out to the New York Knicks. The addition of Oscar Robertson in 1970/71, brought their win total to 66 games...And an impressive postseason (Losing just two games) which culminated in an NBA crown. Oscar had to wait a long time to get his first. Kareem had his first (Of six!) in only his second year.
The Lakers were not the same story. So much frustration. They'd lost to the Boston Celtics in 1959 (While still in Minneapolis), and again in 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969. In 1970, they'd also lost to the Knicks like the Bucks.
So in 1971/72, despite the loss of Elgin Baylor, they went ahead and forged out, The Streak.
It all started the day after losing to, of all teams, the Golden State Warriors on November 6. That dropped their record to 6-3. They beat the Washington Bullets 106-91 the very next day. From there on in, Los Angeles looked unstoppable. They beat the Bucks on the 21st for their 11th straight. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers on December 19th for their 25th. On and on it went. But then the Bucks stopped 'em at home on January 9th. The Streak had reached 33 games. But #33, Kareem, scored 39 points to Wilt Chamberlain's measly 15. The Bucks won, 120-104. It was a Sunday where even all the prayers in Los Angeles could not be hear.
However, the Lakers recovered from that, and finished the season 66-13. And when they met the Bucks in the semi-finals, they prevailed in six games. The crippled New York Knicks won the first game of the NBA Finals, then watched as LA won four straight for that long-awaited NBA crown.
In 2015/16, the Golden State Warriors were the defending NBA Champions, like the Milwaukee Bucks on 1971/72. And they weren't too keen on giving it all up. They'd won their last four games of the regular season in 2014/15, and started out '15/16 with 24 straight wins. Nothing new for this team. They'd won 16 in a row at one point the previous season. And 12 in a row later. This team, once they get rolling.
The Buck team they faced would be swept by the Warriors of this year, and the Lakers and Buck team on 1971/72. But amazingly enough, The Buck Stopped Here At 28.
On December 12th of 2015, it all came to an end. The Bucks were 9-15 before the game, but 10-15 after. Oh, by the way, the Warriors were 24-0 to start the game and 24-1 after it. Milwaukee narrowed the gap between the two teams with their win.
Their centre, Greg Monroe, had a bit of Kareem in him in this game, too. Monroe scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down 11 boards for good measure. When the smoke had cleared, it was Golden State finishing the game shooting just .409 from the field, and the Milwaukee Bucks had an upset, 108-95. The Streak was over.
The Bucks had stopped them here again.
References
NBA.com. “The Official Site Of The NBA.” NBA.com, National Basketball Association, Web, 13 Dec. 2015, www.nba.com/.
Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.basketball-reference.com/. 13 Dec. 2015.
Youtube. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/.
But in 1971, Milwaukee had won the championship over the Washington Bullets in four straight. In the semis, it was just five games for the Bucks to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. And just two seasons earlier, in their first NBA season, they won only 27 games. What changed all that? The Flip!
The flip of a coin in the 1969 draft brought them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Then know as Lew Alcindor) and 56 wins. The Bucks made it all the way to the final four before bowing out to the New York Knicks. The addition of Oscar Robertson in 1970/71, brought their win total to 66 games...And an impressive postseason (Losing just two games) which culminated in an NBA crown. Oscar had to wait a long time to get his first. Kareem had his first (Of six!) in only his second year.
The Lakers were not the same story. So much frustration. They'd lost to the Boston Celtics in 1959 (While still in Minneapolis), and again in 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969. In 1970, they'd also lost to the Knicks like the Bucks.
So in 1971/72, despite the loss of Elgin Baylor, they went ahead and forged out, The Streak.
It all started the day after losing to, of all teams, the Golden State Warriors on November 6. That dropped their record to 6-3. They beat the Washington Bullets 106-91 the very next day. From there on in, Los Angeles looked unstoppable. They beat the Bucks on the 21st for their 11th straight. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers on December 19th for their 25th. On and on it went. But then the Bucks stopped 'em at home on January 9th. The Streak had reached 33 games. But #33, Kareem, scored 39 points to Wilt Chamberlain's measly 15. The Bucks won, 120-104. It was a Sunday where even all the prayers in Los Angeles could not be hear.
However, the Lakers recovered from that, and finished the season 66-13. And when they met the Bucks in the semi-finals, they prevailed in six games. The crippled New York Knicks won the first game of the NBA Finals, then watched as LA won four straight for that long-awaited NBA crown.
In 2015/16, the Golden State Warriors were the defending NBA Champions, like the Milwaukee Bucks on 1971/72. And they weren't too keen on giving it all up. They'd won their last four games of the regular season in 2014/15, and started out '15/16 with 24 straight wins. Nothing new for this team. They'd won 16 in a row at one point the previous season. And 12 in a row later. This team, once they get rolling.
The Buck team they faced would be swept by the Warriors of this year, and the Lakers and Buck team on 1971/72. But amazingly enough, The Buck Stopped Here At 28.
On December 12th of 2015, it all came to an end. The Bucks were 9-15 before the game, but 10-15 after. Oh, by the way, the Warriors were 24-0 to start the game and 24-1 after it. Milwaukee narrowed the gap between the two teams with their win.
Their centre, Greg Monroe, had a bit of Kareem in him in this game, too. Monroe scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down 11 boards for good measure. When the smoke had cleared, it was Golden State finishing the game shooting just .409 from the field, and the Milwaukee Bucks had an upset, 108-95. The Streak was over.
The Bucks had stopped them here again.
References
NBA.com. “The Official Site Of The NBA.” NBA.com, National Basketball Association, Web, 13 Dec. 2015, www.nba.com/.
Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.basketball-reference.com/. 13 Dec. 2015.
Youtube. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/.
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