On January 9, 1972: For more than two months the Los Angeles Lakers had not lost. But their 33-game winning streak ends when the Bucks’ 7-foot-2 center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar comes up big in Milwaukee, outplaying the Lakers’ 7-foot-1 Wilt Chamberlain. In the 120-104 victory by the defending NBA champions, the 24-year-old Abdul-Jabbar outscores the 35-year-old Wilt 39-15 and has more rebounds (20 to 12), more blocked shots (10 to 6) and more assists (5 to 2). “I have never seen Jabbar more fired up for a game,” Lakers coach Bill Sharman says. “I’m sorry the streak is over,” says Lakers guard Jerry West, who shoots only 5-of-16 from the field in scoring 20 points. “I wanted it to go on forever.” Sharman says, “It will be many, many years before anybody wins 33 games in a row again.”
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