Lakers Attempting to Match Near-Impossible Goal That Led to 2020 NBA Finals Win

Can the Lakers achieve this goal in 2024-25?

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

During the 2019-20 season, the last time the Los Angeles Lakers finished the season victorious as NBA champions, the Lakers set a goal of not losing two games in a row. The Lakers have decided to make that their goal again this season, and try to avoid losing streaks.

The 2019-20 Lakers came close to their goal. They only lost two or more games in a row three times during the long season. One of those losing streaks might not have happened, but the Lakers rightfully postponed one of their games against the Los Angeles Clippers following the tragic death of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

That Lakers team had just one losing streak of four games, and finished the season 52-19. The Lakers have had many more losing streaks over the last two games, something that hurt the team. The Lakers began the 2022-23 season losing 10 of their first 12 games, and lost two or more games in a row eight different times. They had multiple five-game losing streaks. In 2023-24, they had six losing streaks of two or more games.

The Lakers lost their first game of the 2024-25 season on Monday, falling 109-105 to the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers are now 3-1, and will look to avoid losing a second game in a row when they go on to face the 4-0 Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

"We don't expect to lose, but we're realistic," Anthony Davis said after Monday's loss. "We're probably going to lose a game. We didn't want to start off with the first loss on this trip, but it happened. I like the way the guys competed and we played extremely hard. We can bounce back against a Cleveland team, 4-0, another team that's playing extremely well. Got to go in and try to not lose two in a row. That'll be the challenge for us all year, never lose two in a row."

The 2019-20 Lakers came into the season with a stated goal of never losing two in a row. It only happened three times that campaign en route to the championship. These Lakers have adopted the same goal pic.twitter.com/AW9Pnt6QWy

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 29, 2024

"We want to not let losses come in bunches," James added.

The Lakers are already off to their best start since 2011 by winning their first three games of the season, but can they prevent falling back into old habits when they head to Cleveland?

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