With a 106-105 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, the Bucks upped their record to 19-6 at the 25-game mark of the season. It was the sixth straight season where the team won at least 15 of their first 25 games to start a season.
Six straight seasons with 15+ wins in first 25 games
The first 25 games in the last six seasons for the Bucks:
2017-18: 15-10, .600
2018-19: 17-8, 680
2019-20: 22-3, .880
2020-21: 16-9, .640
2021-22: 16-9, .640
2022-23: 19-6, .760
In eight seasons in their history, the Bucks have won 18 or more games of the first 25. Their best 25-game start was in 2019-20 when they went 22-3 to start the season.
Eight seasons with at least 18 wins in first 25 games
Here are the eight seasons when the Bucks won 18 of their first 25 games. Also noted is how they ended that season.
2019-20: 22-3… finished 56-17, lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals
1970-71: 21-4… finished 66-16, won the NBA title
1971-72: 21-4… finished 63-19, lost in the Western Conference finals
1973-74: 21-4… finished 59-23, lost in the NBA Finals
2022-23: 19-6… ????????
1980-81: 19-6… finished 60-22, lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals
1972-73: 18-7… finished 60-22, lost in the Western Conference semifinals
1979-80: 18-7… finished 49-33, lost in the Western Conference semifinals
This season, only the Boston Celtics won 20 of their first 25 games, going 20-5 through their first 25 games. The Golden State Warriors of 2015-16 hold the NBA record with the best record after 25 games. They went 24-1 that season. Four other teams won 23 of their first 25 games to start a season: Philadelphia (1966-67), New York Knicks (1969-70), Chicago (1995-96) and Boston (2008-09).
In the history of the NBA, 28 teams that won the NBA title started that championship season with at least 20 wins in their first 25 games.
Bucks at the 25-game mark in their two title runs
As noted above the Bucks won their 1970-71 NBA title after starting the season 21-4 in their first 25 games. In the Bucks’ second title run, 2020-21, they were 16-9 in the first 25 games in that title year. The 16 wins that season were the fewest in the first 25 games by a team that won the title that year since the 2005-06 Miami Heat started 14-11 in that season when they won the championship.
Since 1999-20, 13 of the 23 teams that won the NBA titles during those seasons started the year with 20 or more wins in their first 25 games.
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