By now, you've probably heard Rasheed Wallace's claim that the Boston Celtics can surpass the record 72 wins of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. 

Wallace has never been shy about predictions. In the 2004 postseason, the Pistons lost to the Pacers in the opener of the conference finals, and Wallace's postgame media session primarily consisted of this sentence. 

"They will NOT win Game Two!" 

Wallace was right about that one but fell to 1-1 in bold declarations in 2007, when a similar statement prior to Game Four of the conference finals was undone by LeBron James and the Cavaliers. 

Now in Boston, Wallace is apparently back in the prediction business. And this one is a doozy, although it cannot be instantly dismissed. 

The Celtics went 66-16 when they won the championship two seasons ago. They raced to a 27-2 start last season and were still on pace for a win total in the mid-60s until heart and soul Kevin Garnett went down. 

The healthy return of Garnett, additions of Wallace and Marquis Daniels and likely improvement of young players Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins and Big Baby Davis make it seem like the Celtics will be better. Even Kobe Bryant said he Wallace joining the Celtics was the offseason move that got his attention. 

But Wallace's prediction could be taken more seriously if Wallace took the regular season more seriously. In Detroit, he could pretty much punch his ticket to the conference finals every season and at times didn't compete up to his standards. 

In NBA history, only five teams have won 68 or more games in a season. You don't do that by taking games off, which the Celtics are going to have to do every once in a while, given that four of their top six players are 32 or older. 

And you have to get a few wins handed to you along the way. Most of the teams that approached the 70-win stratosphere benefited from a schedule softened by recent expansion that diluted the league's talent base. 

The Celtics appear to have the talent to threaten the Bulls' record. But so do the Cavaliers, who won 66 games last season; the Magic, who may be the deepest team in the league; and the Lakers, who are the defending champions coming off 65 wins. 

You need more than talent to approach 70 wins. You need complete dominance at home, a great start, at least one long winning streak, plenty of weak opponents, health and luck. 

Wallace and the Celtics would be better served taking some advice from the current champs, who are coached by a guy who has a little knowledge on the subject. 

In the meantime, here's a look at the five teams who have won at least 68 games in a season and how they did it. 

1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers (68-13): This was an impressive showing, because it was done without expansion. The league had just 10 teams, which meant you played everyone nine times. And only the Baltimore Bullets (20-61) won less than 30 games. 

The Sixers started 7-0, then rattled off two 11-game winning streaks and a nine-gamer to get to 46-4. At that point, they actually lost four of five, the cruised home to obliterate the previous record of 62 wins. Philadelphia was just 4-5 against Boston (60-21) but 64-8 vs. everyone else. 

Fun fact: The Sixers played 15 neutral-site games, including six in Pittsburgh, their home away from home that was 250 miles across the state. 

1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (69-13): The league added Buffalo, Cleveland and Portland one year earlier, which certainly helped; the Lakers were 13-1 vs. those three teams, who combined for six less wins than LA. 

But that didn't help as much as Elgin Baylor's retirement. The Lakers were 6-3 when Baylor called it quits. That vaulted second-year forward Jim McMillian into the lineup - and triggered a record 33-game winning streak that no team approached before or since. 

During the streak, the Lakers beat every team except Cincinnati and played a staggering four sets of three games in three nights. Where's Billy Hunter when you really need him? 

Fun fact: The only team to beat the Lakers twice was the Phoenix Suns (49-33), who remain the team with the best record to fail to make the playoffs. 

1972-73 Boston Celtics (68-14): The Celts were still benefiting a bit from Buffalo, Portland and inglorious Philadelphia, going 18-0 vs. that trio. They ran out to records of 10-0 and 26-3 and were still 40-7 before losing back-to-back games to the New York Knicks. 

That turned out to be an omen. A 24-2 finish including another loss to the Knicks, who went 4-4 vs. the Celtics, won a Game Seven in Boston Garden and went on to take the title. 

Fun fact: This squad is the only team to lose less than 15 games in a season and fail to win the championship.  

1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72-10): This was an expansion year, with Toronto and Vancouver joining the league. The Bulls actually lost once to the Raptors, but expansion weakens the entire league; six teams won 25 games or less. 

Relatively speaking, the Bulls didn't break out of the gate. They were 10-2 after a loss at eventual Finals foe Seattle but won 31 of their next 32 games before losing two in a row for the only time that season. 

The Bulls broke the Lakers' record with three games to spare. The only team to beat them twice was Indiana (52-30), which had a nucleus that reached the Finals four years later. 

Fun fact: With a little more luck, the Bulls could have been 75-7. Three of their losses were by one point. 

1996-97 Chicago Bulls (69-13): The three-game dropoff of the 1995-96 Bulls is the smallest of any of these teams; the average of the other four is 8.5 less wins. But this team was still taking advantage of talent dilution and wasn't as good against the better clubs. 

These Bulls actually started better than the previous version, going 10-0 and 17-1 before losing two in a row. They got to 34-4 and 63-9, which put 70 wins within reach. But they came off the gas and lost three of their last four.  

Fun fact: Chicago less games vs. lottery teams (three) than it did vs. New York and Miami (two each), who beat each other up in the postseason and didn't have enough left for a second fight. 

Chris Bernucca has covered the NBA since 1996 and is a regular contributor to Pro Basketball News. You can disagree with him at cbernucca@comcast.net.