Lakers will make a run at Bulls' record of 72 wins, but ultimately fall short

"After spending several days with the Los Angeles Lakers for a story in the current issue of Sports Illustrated, I think it's fair to raise the question of whether we have a super team on our hands. Personally, I like superpowers; I think it's good for the league when a team is expected to dominate and when it becomes a big deal whenever they lose a game. More than any club in recent years, including their own three-peat championship squads at the dawn of the new century (that's the first time I've written that phrase), the Lakers bring that buzz-in-the-crowd-nobody-can-beat-them aspect.

The way I see it, the last super team in the NBA was the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, the first of Michael Jordan's second three-peat teams. (Got that?) Chicago won an astonishing 72 games that year, posting the best regular-season record in history, with three more wins than the 1971-72 Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West-Gail Goodrich Lakers, to whom the current star-studded Lakers are most often compared. (A guy named Pat Riley, by the way, was the eighth man on that team.) The 1995-96 Bulls won 12 more games than the second-best team in the East (Orlando) and eight more than the best team in the West (Seattle). That Magic team, incidentally, was led by Shaquille O'Neal, and the SuperSonics were fueled by Gary Payton, both of whom are now on the Lakers."

Full Story:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writ...ider/index.html

 

I wouldn't doubt it. They have a great team, great players. They have really suprised me in this short season. They are playing great team ball and have not let the off court distractions faze them. They are playing like the veterans that they are.

 

Hey did yall see the Spurs opening game when Horry made a point

in 97-98 they had all stars got swept by the Jazz
98-99 all stars got swept by the Spurs

and the last 10 nba teams either had horry or steve kerr

spooky...

 

nah...i don't believe that they'll break 70...they don't have the intensity that the Bulls had when they made that run...the intensity that makes them hungry for those wins every single game...