Will the Lakers or Bucks Break the Regular Season Wins Record?

As we get closer to the meat of the 2019-20 NBA regular-season schedule, two teams – the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers – are in a position to go for history and break the regular-season wins record.

Online sportsbook Sportsbook has given both the Bucks and Lakers +1400 odds to win 74 games and break the record set by the Golden State Warriors during the 2015-16 regular season.

Both teams are currently 24-4 SU through 28 games and while it would be an extremely tall order for either team to go 50-4 SU over its remaining 54 games, both seemingly have a shot to etch their name in the history books.

Los Angeles Lakers

I’ll keep this brief but there are two reasons why I think the Lakers won’t be able to get to 74 wins – they play in the Western Conference and Anthony Davis is an injury waiting to happen.

Dealing with Davis first, he’s missed two games already this season for load management and as someone who owns him in fantasy, it can be extremely frustrating to see he’s a game-time decision in nearly every game this season. He’s been dealing with a bruised shoulder for most of the year and also missed a game recently due to a sprained ankle.

He has played more than 70 games only twice in eight seasons and the Lakers brass didn’t bring him to Los Angeles to win games in January, but for games in June.

Then there’s this whole thing about playing in the West, which has slipped slightly compared to years past but still goes 10 teams deep with stiff competition. Eighteen of their games this season have been vs teams with losing records and they’ve won all 18. That’s obviously encouraging for this prop if you plan to bet it because it shows they can roll over the crappy teams, but their four losses are to teams that are among the top four seeds of their respective conferences.

When looking at the Lakers’ upcoming schedule, the optimism starts to wane. Their next game is in Milwaukee and 12 of their next 20 are against teams with winning records. I think it’s too tough for Los Angeles to accomplish this feat and with Davis injury concerns, I wouldn’t bet the Lakers for this prop.

Milwaukee Bucks

If I had to choose between the two teams, I’d lay my money on the Bucks. For one, they have the most dominant player in the NBA in Giannis Antetokounmpo and he’s laying waste to the league as a clear favorite to again win the Most Valuable Player Award.

Giannis is obviously a big reason why bettors like myself would consider wagering on the Bucks instead of the Lakers in this spot, but another consideration is who they’ve lost to. Milwaukee’s four losses this season are to Miami, Boston, Utah and Dallas, all teams with winning records.

But the key here is the Bucks’ upcoming schedule. Only five of their next 20 games are vs teams with winning records. They play the Lakers on Thursday night and then arguably don’t have another difficult game till Christmas Day vs the Sixers.

The Bucks have the best point differential in the NBA (+12.9), the most dominant player and an easier schedule than the Lakers. I wouldn’t necessarily take the Bucks to beat the Lakers in a seven-game series but when it comes to which team has a better shot to get 74 regular-season wins, Milwaukee is the best choice.