Miami Heat Winning Streak: Can They Break the Lakers Record?

The 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers’ record 33-game regular season winning streak, led by Hall-of-Famers Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, has been considered by many NBA historians to be untouchable. Don’t look any further, here comes the scorching Miami Heat.

The Heat extended their own remarkable streak Wednesday night, winning their 24th straight regular season games after a 27-point comeback win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-95. On a bizarre night where the game was delayed 35 minutes from tip-off due to a substance leaking from the scoreboard, LeBron James and Company struggled to find any offensive rhythm before they turned on the switch.

Miami rallied and went on a 28-10 run in a seven-minute stretch to cut the lead to 6 before taking it over for good. To make the night even more bizarre, a crazed fan ran on the court wearing a shirt that read “2014 Come Back” to help court LeBron back to Cleveland in 2014, when he is set to become a free agent once again.

The last time the Miami Heat felt the agony of defeat was way back on February 1st against the Indiana Pacers. In the interim, the Heat had Twitter and YouTube buzzing with their version of the Harlem Shake, a new Pope was named, and Taylor Swift released even more singles about her troubles with men. It’s safe to say it’s been a while since the Heat lost and they don’t plan on losing any time soon.

The Heat enters their home game Friday against the Detroit Pistons with the second-longest regular season winning streak in NBA history. A couple of weeks ago, the Heat were only focused on coming together as a team and consistently exhibiting their habits that Coach Erik Spoelstra constantly harps about. Since the streak has reached the 20’s, the focus has shifted to the record and beyond.

After the game, LeBron James spoke to reporters about the streak and the win against the Cavaliers: “I am a historian of the game. I know the history of the game. I know almost all the teams that have come through the ranks. So, to be sitting in 2nd place right now with so much that this game has given to our fans and everything, for us to be there and doing it the way we want to do it, it means a lot.”

Much has been discussed about the number and the winning streak but not many have talked about how the Miami Heat have reached this astounding number of consecutive wins. Throughout this winning streak, the Heat were down six different times by double digits and found different ways to come back and win the game.

One night it could be LeBron James and the next night Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh or even Mario Chalmers could be leading the way.

They’ve had to play every style imaginable and have won every which way. This Heat team doesn’t care how they win or who scores the most points on a team that features two superstars, a perennial all-star and the all-time leading 3 point shooter. That is what makes this team special.

The next three games for the Heat are against lottery-bound teams (Pistons, Bobcats, & Hornets) before their third meeting against the Chicago Bulls followed by their final meeting against the New Orleans Hornets. Experts are predicting the Heat to win those games before their showdown with the Western Conference leading San Antonio Spurs on March 31st. If the Heat can somehow come through and win those games they will be at 30 straight regular season wins and the pressure will be soaring through the roof for them to eclipse the mark.

Watch out Lakers, this Miami Heat team is coming for your record.