StaTuesday: Bucks continue streaking with 100-point games

Quick trivia question: When was the last time the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t reach 100 points in a game?

If you can’t remember, don’t fret it. It’s been over a year.

Milwaukee has hit the century mark in 81 straight games, tied for the third-longest streak in NBA history. On Monday, the Bucks broke a tie with San Antonio, which had an 80-game streak from Feb. 4, 1983-Feb. 3, 1984.

If the Bucks reach 100 again Tuesday night in Toronto, they’ll pass the Oscar Robertson-led Cincinnati Royals, who had their 81-game streak from Nov. 18, 1960-Nov. 21, 1961.

There’s a way to go to pass the next two teams on the list. Denver holds the record with 136 straight 100-point games, from Jan. 21, 1981-Dec. 8, 1982, with San Antonio second with 129 from Dec. 12, 1978-March 14, 1980.

You’d think with the advent of the 3-pointer there’d be more teams with long streaks – even the Spurs’ 129 games mentioned above began the season before the 3-pointer was implemented – but that’s not the case. In fact, of the top-20 100-point streaks (actually 21 since there’s a tie for 20th), only six occurred completely in the 3-point era.

This is even the case when looking at 100-point streaks to start a season.

Before 2019-20, in NBA history, six teams began a season scoring 100 or more points in at least 55 straight games. This year’s Bucks became No. 7 – but just the third in the 3-point era.

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As you can see, the Bucks already have more wins than five of the six previous teams had for their entire season. The lone exception, the Lakers, won the NBA title.

The last team to have a longer 100-point streak to open a season was the Nuggets, which hit that total in every game of the 1981-82 season. Denver averaged 126.5 points per games that year … and its opponents averaged 126.0. Yup, the Nuggets also allowed 100+ points in every contest.

Milwaukee is currently averaging 120.0 points per game this season. If the Bucks can keep it up, they’ll be just the seventh team in the 3-point era to finish a season with that high of an average – and only the second one outside of Denver.

Of course, also keep in mind that the previous teams in the 3-point era which averaged 120+ points didn’t exactly play a lot of defense.

TEAMS AVERAGING 120+ PPG IN 3-POINT ERA

Trivia question answer: The Bucks last failed to reach 100 points in a game Feb. 21, 2019 in a 98-97 win over Boston at Fiserv Forum. The last time Milwaukee didn’t score 100+ in a road game? Dec. 22, 2018 in a 94-87 loss at Miami – that’s 54 straight games with 100+ points away from home, tied for the seventh-longest road streak in NBA history with the St. Louis Hawks (Jan. 6, 1961-Oct. 26, 1962). The top six are: Denver, 79 (Nov. 28, 1980-Dec. 8, 1982); Cincinnati, 70 (Nov. 19, 1960-Jan. 18, 1963); San Francisco/Philadelphia, 67 (Oct. 28, 1961-Feb. 16, 1963); New York, 64 (Feb. 18, 1959-March 9, 1961); San Antonio, 63 (Dec. 12, 1978-March 14, 1980) and San Antonio, 56 (Dec. 30, 1982-Feb. 23, 1984).