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The Longest Losing Streaks Against A Single Opponent In NBA History

David Astramskas (Redapples)

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Publish Date: 12/13/2024

Fact checked by: Allan Howe

Steph Curry and Warriors SHOCKED refs gave Jalen Green game winning FT's

When the final buzzer went off at the end of the Warriors-Rockets game, Steph Curry was in disbelief, Steve Kerr was ready to break another clipboard, and Houstonians were jumping as high as Jalen Green because the Rockets' 15-game losing streak to the Warriors was finally over. That streak dates back to February 20, 2020, when SONIC THE HEDGEHOG was the No. 1 movie at the box office; SONIC 3 comes out in theaters next week.

After the game, Alperen Sengun said he's "never seen his team this thirsty," and they are ready to "battle" in the NBA Cup Semi-Finals against the Thunder, who now owns the longest win streak against a team in the NBA (14 against the Trailblazers).

In honor of the thirsty Rockets ending the streak that started days away from Rudy Gobert touching a bunch of microphones before the COVID shutdown, let's look back at the longest losing streaks against a single opponent.

TIMBERWOLVES TO SONICS

LOSING STREAK: 26
YEARS: 1991-1997

While Ice Cube was rapping about good days in Los Angeles when the Lakers beat the SuperSonics, no rappers in Minnesota were rapping about that topic. For seven years, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and the underrated Sonics teams of the 90s dominated the expansion Wolves season after season.

The Timberwolves drafted Dream Team member Christian Laettner in 1992. It didn't matter; the Sonics beat them 4-0, including twice by over 30.

They drafted high-scoring J.R. Rider in 1993. It didn't matter; the Sonics beat them 4-0. But Rider did beat the Reign Man in the 93 NBA Dunk Contest.

I'm sure they had some hope during the 95/96 season when they drafted Kevin Garnett out of high school. It didn't matter; the Sonics beat them 4-0, including a 37-point beatdown that saw Ervin (not Earvin/Magic) Johnson put up a career-high 28 points with 12 rebounds and 5 blocks. It's also worth mentioning this Sonics team finished with a 64-18 record and took the 72-10 Bulls to six games in the NBA Finals.

How about adding NYC Point God Stephon Marbury to the roster in 97? It didn't matter; 4 more Ls. But fans did get to celebrate the Wolves making the Playoffs this year! It's too bad the celebration lasted only five days because the Rockets swept them 3-0 in the first round.

The drought ended two days before Christmas in 1997 when Starbury outscored the Glove 35-27 in a 112-103 victory. The win sparked the team to win 12 of their next 13 games.

Shawn Kemp - Wolves at Sonics - 12/5/96

TIMBERWOLVES TO SUNS

LOSING STREAK: 25
YEARS: 1989-1995

The Sonics weren't the only 90s team that circled the Timberwolves on their calendars. The Phoenix Suns had been beating them since the very first time the two franchises played each other in 1989, when their roster looked like this:

Leading Scorer: Tony Campbell (21.8 PTS)

2nd Leading Scorer: Tyrone Corbin (18 PTS)

Leading Assists: Pooh Richardson (9 AST, 17.1 PTS)

Leading Rebounder: Felton Spencer (7.9 REB, 7.1 PTS)

The team also had future NBA coaches Sam Mitchell, Scott Brooks, and a guy named (Not Billy) Bob Thornton.

I want to give Tony Campbell some flowers. Before being taken in the expansion draft by the Wolves, Campbell was averaging six points for the Lakers. He averaged 23 and 22 during his first two seasons with the Wolves. His best game came in a rare win against Larry Bird and the Celtics: 44 points and 14 rebounds (both season highs). He also had a 38-point game in a win against Charles Barkley (more about him soon) and the Sixers.

If Tony and the Wolves thought beating the Suns was hard during their first three seasons, it got much tougher in the fourth when Barkley was traded to Phoenix. With that said, they took the Suns to OT on January 27, 1993, and only lost by one because of a Danny Ainge tip-in with less than a second on the clock. Barkley had his way with 35 points and a season-high 24 boards and went on to win MVP while leading the Suns to the NBA Finals. Like the previously mentioned Sonics, they faced Michael Jordan in the Finals, and we all know what happens when a team faces MJ in the Finals.

Then, in their second meeting of the 1995/96 season, six years after the franchise's start, the Timberwolves finally won their first game against the Suns. Christian Laettner scored a game-high 21 points in the 98-93 victory. Barkley had a mediocre 17 points and 6 boards, and rookie Kevin Garnett had just 2 points off the bench.

The Wolves lost the remaining two regular-season games against them and then won THREE STRAIGHT the following season. Before you get too excited, Barkley was no longer in Phoenix, and instead, they had a disgruntled Robert Horry -- until he was traded mid-season for throwing a towel in Coach Danny Ainge's face.

KINGS TO LAKERS

LOSING STREAK: 24
YEARS: 1983-1988

If you are a Kings fan in your 30s or 40s, you probably hate the Lakers because of the playoff battles in the early 2000s, specifically the 2002 Western Conference Finals.

If you are a Kings fan in your 50s or 60s, you are probably lying about being a fan, or you hate the Lakers because you watched Magic and the 80s Showtime Lakers beat your team for six straight years.

Who were the Kings in the 80s?
At the beginning of the streak, they were the Kansas City Kings. In 1985, they became the Sacramento Kings team that only made the playoffs once in 12 years.

The best player on that team was Reggie Theus, who was the man in Chicago before they drafted that kid from UNC. You might also know him as Coach Bill Fuller in the 90s Saturday-morning TV show HANG TIME. If so, remember when Coach Fuller brought Kobe Bryant to a gym to teach his players a lesson about gambling?

Who were the Lakers in the 80s?
They were just a team that went to the NBA Finals nine times in ten years and won four. They also had up to six Hall of Famers on the roster, including the greatest point guard ever and arguably the greatest center.

Magic Johnson
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
James Worthy
Michael Cooper
Bob McAdoo
Jamaal Wilkes

VIDEO: LAKERS START THE GAME ON A 24-0 RUN

This was the NBA's version of the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals. Here are some highlights of the Lakers' outscoring the Kings 40-4 in the 1st Quarter.

1987 Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento Kings

BRAVES TO THE CELTICS

LOSING STREAK: 22
YEARS: 1970-1974

I know you don't want to read about the rebuilding (post-Bill Russell and pre-Larry Bird) Celtics of the early 1970s beating up on the Clippers when they were the Buffalo Braves. I'll just say a quick thing about the great Bob McAdoo during this time. The Braves' second overall pick in 1972 went on to win Rookie Of The Year, lead the league in scoring for the next three years, and win MVP during his third. He would end up on the Showtime Lakers in the 80s, where he won two championships, including one against the Celtics in 1985.

TIMBERWOLVES TO LAKERS

LOSING STREAK: 22
YEARS: 2007-2013

The 22-game losing streak started on March 18, 2007, when Kobe Bryant dropped 50 in Kevin Garnett's final game against the Lakers in a Timberwolves jersey. This game was also part of Kobe's streak of four consecutive games with 50+ points:

March 16: 65 points (23/39 FG)
March 18: 50 points (17/35 FG)
March 22: 60 points (20/37 FG)
March 23: 50 points (16/29 FG)

KG was traded to the Celtics a few months later for seven players (the most in NBA history for a single player), including Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, and Sebastian Telfair. They were the youngest team in the league, and they played like it, starting the season with 29 losses in their first 34 games.

Year after year, they struggled to get to 20 wins in a season. The lowest point was the 2009-10 season when they only won 15 and had Kevin Love coming off the bench. When they finally unleashed Love the following season, he averaged 20 points and a league-leading 15 boards and helped them win...17 games!

Meanwhile, the Lakers celebrated the second of their back-to-back championships in 2010. The win was also their third straight trip to the NBA Finals. The first was a loss because of the Wolves. How? They traded Kevin Garnett to Boston, the team that beat the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals.

"Anything is possible!!!!" - Kevin Garnett

Anything unless you are the Wolves trying to beat the Lakers around this time. More specifically, the Lakers with Kobe Bryant. They broke the losing streak on November 10, 2013, when they played a Kobe-less Lakers with a 39-year-old Steve Nash (the oldest player in the league) in the starting lineup.

"We had lost so many straight to the Lakers that we thought we were due for one," said Love after the 23-point win. "We knew, the guys that had played here, talked about it, that we hadn't had much success, but we weren't thinking about anything numbers-wise. Just wanted to come out and think about this year."

The Wolves beat them two more times this year. The last of the three wins was a 143-107 beatdown on a Lakers team that started the game with this lineup: