Lakers, Thunder, Spurs, Wolves and Warriors Are All on 4-Game Win Streaks, an NBA First Since 1970-71

Photo: The Dyme

The top five teams in the Western Conference have all won at least four straight games. The league says that has never happened since the NBA split into conferences in 1970-71, per NBA.com and Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

Here is the run, per the ESPN standings on Monday afternoon:

Seed	Team	Record	Streak
1	Lakers	9-2	W5
2	Thunder	8-2	W4
3	Spurs	8-2	W8
4	Timberwolves	8-3	W4
5	Warriors	7-3	W7

Add the streaks up and the West's top five have 28 straight wins between them. They are a combined 40-12. Across those 28 wins, they outscored opponents by 380 points, or 13.6 a game, by our count from the ESPN game logs.

The margins are real

Streaks this early can be a product of who's on the calendar. Some of these are. But the margins tell a different story.

Oklahoma City's four-game streak is plus-83, by our count from the ESPN logs, including a +5 and +8 against Cleveland before 31- and 39-point wins over Memphis (128-97) and Washington (114-75). That is from a team missing Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, with Chet Holmgren out too. The Thunder are reportedly sending two second-round picks to Sacramento for Nique Clifford, a move first reported Sunday.

San Antonio's eight straight includes a 1-point escape against Dallas (112-111) and a 10-point win over Minnesota, one of the other four teams on this list. The Spurs are plus-119 in the streak, by our count.

Golden State's seven is the strangest of the five. The Warriors started 0-3, with the third loss at Phoenix (131-122) on Oct. 24. Then they won at Denver, won at Minnesota and beat the Lakers 112-95 on Oct. 30. That's the last loss the Lakers took. The Warriors kept going even after Kristaps Porzingis stepped away on Nov. 6. Will Richard is out with a left thumb UCL tear, per NBA.com.

The Lakers' five have been closer: plus-51, and the last one came without Luka Doncic. Austin Reaves scored 43 at Detroit in a 121-116 win on Sunday.

The top five keep handing each other losses

Look at how these streaks started. Minnesota's last loss came at San Antonio on Oct. 31. The Lakers' last loss came against Golden State. Golden State's own run includes wins over Minnesota and the Lakers.

So the top of the West isn't five teams beating up on a weak conference while dodging each other. They have played each other, and the results feed directly into the order on the table.

The team just outside the circle matters too. Houston, at 7-3 in sixth, gave two of the five their last losses: San Antonio on Oct. 23 (114-110) and Oklahoma City on Oct. 31 (119-98). The Rockets are 1.5 games out of first and they're the sixth seed.

The West has no soft middle right now

Ten West teams are at .600 or better, from the 9-2 Lakers down to the 6-4 Mavericks in 10th, per ESPN. In the East, four teams are at .600 or better.

That depth changes how a win streak reads. In most Novembers, a four-game run lifts a team into the conversation. In this West, it just keeps a team in the top five. Dallas has won two straight and sits in 10th, the last play-in spot.

This is not a brand-new pattern either. On April 1, 2026, NBA.com noted that the West's top four teams had never all entered April on three-plus game win streaks until that day. Seven months later, the same conference has stretched the idea to five teams in November.

Three streaks are on the line tonight

The record is fragile, and Monday could break it. Three of the five play tonight, per the ESPN schedule:

• Lakers at Hawks, 7 p.m. ET. Atlanta has won four straight too.
• Spurs at Suns, 9 p.m. ET.
• Pelicans at Warriors, 10 p.m. ET.

Oklahoma City visits Portland on Tuesday. Minnesota hosts Dallas on Thursday.

One loss ends the five-team mark. That's fine. A record like this is less about how long it lasts and more about what it says: the West in 2026-27 has five teams playing like the best team in the league on any given night, and a sixth, Houston, that has already beaten two of them.

The East has the 9-2 76ers on top. The West has a race where a four-game win streak is the price of staying in the top five.

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Sources:

• The Stein Line on X: top five West teams all on 4-plus win streaks, a first since 1970-71
• ESPN: NBA standings
• ESPN: Lakers schedule and results
• ESPN: Thunder schedule and results
• ESPN: Spurs schedule and results
• ESPN: Timberwolves schedule and results
• ESPN: Warriors schedule and results
• Scores and Streaks: current NBA win streaks
• NBA.com: Starting 5, April begins with a historic West chase
• NBA.com: Starting 5, November 9, 2026
• NBA.com / Golden State Warriors: Will Richard player page
• NDTV Sports: Will Richard out indefinitely, Porzingis trade talks
• The Dyme: Kings reportedly trading Nique Clifford to Thunder for two second-round picks
• The Dyme: Austin Reaves scores 43 without Luka Doncic as the 9-2 Lakers hold off Detroit 121-116