The Portland Trail Blazers were founded in 1970 as an expansion team. Since their inception, the Blazers have won one NBA championship (1977) and three conference titles (1977, 1990, and 1992). Their stretch from 1990-92 was one of the best in franchise history, although they don't have a ring to show from that period.
After losing to the Detroit Pistons in the 1990 NBA Finals, the Blazers finished with a 63-19 record the following season, ahead of Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls for the best record in the league. Portland, led by two of the top ten Blazers of all time, Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, put together a franchise-best 16-game winning streak that year.
Blazers' 1990-91 season leads the way
Wins | Season | Date Range |
|---|---|---|
16 | 1990-91 | Mar 20 - Apr 21, 1991 |
13 | 2017-18 | Feb 14 - Mar 20, 2018 |
13 | 2007-08 | Dec 3 - Dec 31, 2007 |
12 | 2001-02 | Feb 17 - Mar 9, 2002 |
11 | 2013-14 | Nov 8 - Nov 27, 2013 |
11 | 1999-00 | Feb 4 - Feb 29, 2000 |
11 | 1996-97 | Feb 28 - Mar 22, 1997 |
11 | 1990-91 | Nov 2 - Nov 27, 1990 |
10 | 2000-01 | Dec 23 - Jan 13, 2001 |
10 | 1989-90 | Mar 3 - Mar 22, 1990 |
What NBA team holds the record?
Portland's 16-game winning streak is tied with several other teams for 23rd-best in NBA history. The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers hold the record with an impressive 33 consecutive wins. That Lakers team was loaded with talent, including Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Baylor. The teams following the Lakers are more recent, and both feature a "big three," which consists of future Hall of Famers.
The 2015 Golden State Warriors' trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green had 28 wins in a row spanning over multiple seasons, winning four straight to close out the 2014-15 season and then their first 24 games of the historic 2015-16 season in which they finished with the best record in league history at 73-9. The Lakers and Warriors' streaks both eventually ended on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The only other team that approached the Lakers' record was the 2012-13 Miami Heat with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Of the three teams, the Warriors were the only team not to win the NBA Finals that same season.
With the number of superstars currently spread out across the league, it will be difficult for any team to come close to these teams' win streaks next season. The Philadelphia 76ers do have a head start entering the season, as they finished the 2023-24 season with an eight-game win streak.
The Blazers will be multiple years away from entering the conversation. A better question for them next season is whether they come close to the longest losing streak in NBA history as they try to increase their odds of landing Cooper Flagg in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Pistons lost 28 games in a row last season, tying the 2015 Philadelphia 76ers for the most in NBA history.