The Most Impressive Streaks of the Past Decade

The Los Angeles Lakers winning 33 straight games during the 1971-72 season. Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record. The Oklahoma Sooners of the mid-'50s winning 47 straight games.

Over the course of history, sports fans have seen streaks that are almost impossible to believe.

And, in the past 10 years, that trend has continued, with teams and players putting up consecutive games and seasons of remarkable feats.

For that reason, here are the most impressive of streaks of the past decade.

Kentucky Wildcats' Men's Hoops Undefeated Regular Season

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Go ahead and say what you want to about how head coach John Calipari recruits and his players often going one-and-done, but it's a system that works well for him.

While the Kentucky Wildcats still have the SEC tournament and Big Dance to get through to prove that they truly are the best team in college basketball history, if any squad can do it, it's them.

Uncommon in the Bluegrass State with a roster full of, gulp, mixed ages—not just all freshmen as Cal has had in the past—this Cats team has endured all of the punches thrown its way and just finished the regular season at a perfect 31-0, beating four ranked opponents and three top-six teams in the process.

And if the Cats should run the table the rest of the way to finish an insane 40-0, they will complete the best men's college basketball season in the history of the sport.

Kobe Bryant's 50-Plus-Point Streak

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Don't get me wrong here, the streak of 50-plus points that Kobe Bryant put up in five straight games during the 2006-07 season is just ridiculous. The Black Mamba put on, arguably, the greatest scoring display any of us will ever see in our lifetime for about a week.

That shouldn't mean that what Bryant did should be commended, though, as his Lakers team that year finished with a record of just 42-40 and started the likes of Kwame Brown and Smush Parker.

With no one else capable of scoring, Bryant took over, jacking up an incredible 173 shots and scoring a total of 268 points in those five games.

Maybe more remarkable than the 53.6 points-per-game average that Bryant had, though, was the fact that his shooting percentage was still a nifty 52.6 percent. He wasn't just shooting from anywhere on the floor, but he was getting the shot he wanted.

It's no wonder the guy is one of the most lethal players in NBA history with streaks like this on his resume.

Clayton Kershaw's NL Cy Young Streak

If the seven-year, $180 million contract that he signed before the 2014 season wasn't enough proof that he was the most dominant pitcher in the majors, Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw has proved his worth over the past four seasons with one of the best runs in major league history.

Finishing in the top two in NL Cy Young voting in each season, the 26-year-old has walked away with three of the awards, earning the last two in ridiculous fashion while also earning the league's MVP Award to his mantle in 2014.

With a record of 72-26 and an ERA of 2.11 over those four years, Kershaw doesn't look like he'll slow down anytime soon, so the streak of Cy Young votes might go on for a handful of years.

That doesn't ease the mind of any batter stepping into the box against him, as the guy is just filthy.

Chicago Blackhawks' 24-Game Point Streak

In any sport, there's no such thing as an easy win—every sports fan knows that.

So when the Chicago Blackhawks started the 2013 season with a ridiculous 24-game streak in which they earned at least one point, it may have swayed a few fans' opinions on that previous thought.

Covering a span of two months and surpassing the old record of 16 straight games, the Hawks may have lost to a lowly opponent to end the historic streak—the Colorado Avalanche were tied for last-place in the Western Conference at the time—but they will be remembered for something that will be hard for any team to match, let alone break.

What really made this team memorable, though, is that it went on to win the Stanley Cup in the lockout-shortened season, leaving the Hawks with something else to add to their early-season record.

Drew Brees' Nine Straight 300-Plus-Yard Games

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Some may argue that Drew Brees' 54 consecutive games with a touchdown pass is more impressive, but I'm going with the nine straight 300-yard games as the more spectacular streak.

While Brees could still throw a touchdown even if he only put up 100 yards in a game, throwing for a total of more than 3,100 yards in nine games in a row—on two separate occasions—makes him one of the best the game has ever seen.

The NFL is a pass-heavy league, and the New Orleans Saints are happy to have this future Hall of Famer guiding their offense.

Miami Heat's 27-Game Win Streak and Four Straight NBA Finals Trips

When the Miami Heat ran off 27 straight games during the 2012-13 season, it was, quite possibly, the best winning streak that any of us will ever see in our lifetime.

Sure, they fell six games shy of the pro sports record of 33 in a row set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, but the superteam of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh should be commended for staying focused for as long as they did.

Making the win streak even more of a challenge was that the Heat had to endure the All-Star break, which can throw a wrench into a team's effort before or after. That didn't happen with the Heat, though.

Like the aforementioned Chicago Blackhawks, Miami also gets credit for ending their season with something more than an impressive win streak, as they won their second straight NBA title later that season—which came during their stretch of four straight trips to the NBA Finals, becoming just the third team in NBA history to do so.

Lionel Messi's 21-Match Goal Streak

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

No matter if you're a Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo fan, there's no denying the goal-scoring talent of the Argentine international and FC Barcelona striker.

And the guy proved his prowess from November 2012 to May 2013 when he netted a goal in a record 21 straight games for his club team, Barca, breaking the former record of 19 in a row.

Considering soccer is such a low-scoring affair in which teams will, at times, play conservatively with a 1-0 lead and is a test of physical and mental toughness with players running around for 90-plus minutes, Messi's record is just nuts.

When you toss in his size—he's just 5'7" and 148 pounds—it makes the streak that much more spectacular.

Russell Westbrook's Triple-Double Streak

I'm not sure if Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook is this year's NBA MVP or not, but it sure seems like he's trying his best to keep the individual award in OKC based on his recent run.

With last year's MVP on the sideline and his Thunder team in the midst of an intense playoff chase, Westbrook has gone absurd, running off five triple-doubles in his past six games and becoming the only player not named Michael Jordan to average at least 33 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds over a 10-game stretch.

After Westbrook won this year's All-Star Game MVP, it appears that he doesn't want to come off that cloud. He's put together this streak that hasn't been seen since Jordan's seven straight triple-doubles back in 1989.

Atlanta Hawks' Undefeated Month

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There's no denying what the Atlanta Hawks are doing this year has come out of nowhere.

While the team has made the postseason seven straight years, the Hawks were never taken seriously as a title contender, often looked at as a squad with talent but lacking a superstar who could carry them beyond just the first or second round of the playoffs.

This year has been different, though, with head coach Mike Budenholzer mirroring the San Antonio Spurs' success—where he was an assistant—with balance and ball movement. Atlanta is the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the first team in the league to reach 50 wins this year.

And when four players from the team made the All-Star Game this year, many may have wondered why. Well, look no further than the undefeated month of January that the Hawks had, which was the first month a team hadn't lost a game in NBA history.

Who knows if they'll win an NBA title this year or not, but the Hawks have shown that they are serious and will be a tough out for anyone when the knockout round begins.

Roger Federer's 23 Straight Grand Slam Semifinals

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With a men's singles record 17 career Grand Slam titles, Roger Federer has earned the distinction as the best male tennis player in history.

Even with his career achievements slowing down in recent years as he is 33 years old, Fed has accomplished pretty much everything a player could imagine.

His most impressive feat, though? The 23 straight Grand Slam singles semifinals that he reached that ended in 2010.

Considering he broke the previous record of 10 straight set by Ivan Lendl quite easily and the next longest run was Novak Djokovic's 14 straight that came to an end in 2014, what Federer did is nothing short of remarkable.

The record run spanned nearly six years, with Federer reaching the final in 20 of the 23 matches and claiming 14 Grand Slam titles.

Connecticut Huskies Women's Basketball 90-Game Win Streak

Having just one undefeated season that ends with a championship is incredible enough. But having two straight is legendary.

That's the distinction that the Connecticut Huskies women's hoops team owns following a record 90-game win streak that stretched from 2008 to 2010, sandwiched between two losses to the Stanford Cardinal, who ended the streak for the Huskies in December 2010.

Owning the longest win streak in NCAA hoops D-I history by either a men's or women's team, the Huskies also became the only women's D-I program to complete consecutive seasons as undefeated champs.

With the women Huskies winning four NCAA titles since 2005 and reaching the Final Four every season since 2008, there's no argument as to which program owns the title of Team of the Decade in women's hoops.

San Antonio Spurs' 17-Year Playoff Streak and 50-Plus Win Streak

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Currently sitting in the sixth spot in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs are in position, once again, to reach the postseason, earning their record 18th straight trip to the playoffs.

That's pretty insane.

What's even more nuts is that this will be the second time in those 18 years that the Spurs may find themselves below the 50-win mark, as they have won above the half-century mark in every season since 1999-00, with the only year coming in the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99 when they claimed the NBA title.

Think about that for a second.

You want to talk about the definition of a winner, every year that Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan have been together, they have had not only made the playoffs but had a regular season win-percentage of .707—or an average record of 58-24.

For a team that often rests its starters during the season to save their bodies for the long haul, it's as if the Spurs signed a deal with the devil for the success they've had during their five title seasons together.