How Realistic Is 70 Wins For The Lakers?

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Nobody hates it when writers and fans talk about teams winning 70 games before January more than I do.

To be perfectly honest, it really doesn't make sense to talk about a team's chances of winning 70 games until the All-Star break.

So before any of you call me a hypocrite just understand that this isn't my attempt at making a case for the Lakers winning 70 games as much as it is a primer for what all of you Lakers haters and homers need to pay attention to before you start broaching the subject.

History

The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls were the only team in the NBA's history to win 70 games. By the end of 1995 they had amassed an incredible record of 25-3. By the All-Star break they had improved their record to an even more impressive 42-5—thanks to an 18-game winning streak.

The Bulls finished with a post-break record of 30-5 record.

In addition to the 18-game streak, the Bulls also had a 13-game winning streak as well as seven other winning streaks of five games or more.

Of their 10 losses that year, only two of them came back-to-back.

The most impressive fact about the 1995-96 Bulls is that between Nov. 27 and Feb. 4 they went 31-1.

Misconceptions

One of the only criticisms about that amazing team was that they were aided by the NBA expanding into Canada—giving the Bulls six easy wins against the newly-formed Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies.

I understand that those six games would have probably presented greater challenges had they been against teams that were already in existence.

But nobody seems to remember that one of the Bulls 10 losses came against the Raptors. Sure it's only one loss but it's one loss out of only 10 they had all season.

Considering how great that Bulls team was, there was a great chance that they would have gone 5-1 against any random six opponents.

The Hard Part

There's no denying that the roughest part of the NBA schedule comes in the form of back-to-back games. I find it funny that today's players complain about back-to-backs when it wasn't that long ago teams would play in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas on three consecutive nights.

Since this Lakers team has all but two players returning from last season's squad (and that's if you count Sun Yue) it wouldn't be crazy to see how they fared on the second night of back-to-back games last season as an indicator of how they might do this season.

Last year's world champs, who finished the season with a 65-17 record, went a remarkable 14-5 on the second night of back-to-backs, including road wins over the Hornets (twice), Spurs, and Celtics.

This year the Lakers have 20 sets of back-to-backs, including a stretch in December that sees them playing three consecutive back-to-backs in only 10 days. Of those six games, only the first one is at home.

Of their 20 sets of back-to-backs, their games on the second night are on the road an eye-catching 18 times—including games at Houston (twice), Denver, Utah, Detroit, Dallas (twice), and Portland.

There are also games in Sacramento (twice), Indiana, and Charlotte—three teams that not only beat the Lakers in their home buildings last season but always seem to give the Lakers fits in front of their hometown fans—regardless of their won-loss records.

The Easy Part

Much has been made of the fact that the Lakers play 17 of their first 21 game at home this year. That's probably why I chose to write this article in the first place. Should the Lakers find a way to get through those 21 games with a record of 19-2 or better there is no question that there will be plenty of talk about them winning 70 games.

Of the the four road games during that stretch, three of them are against the Warriors, Thunder, and Rockets—three teams that will most likely either miss the playoffs or finish seventh or eighth in the conference.

The fourth game, against the Nuggets in Denver on Nov. 13 is on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Importance of Luck

You can't underestimate the importance of luck when it comes to attempting to win 70 games.

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