1970–71 NBA season

The 1970–71 NBA season was the 25th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Milwaukee Bucks winning the NBA Championship, beating the Baltimore Bullets 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals.^[1] Three new teams made their debut: the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Buffalo Braves.

1970–71 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 13, 1970 – March 23, 1971 March 24 – April 19, 1971 (Playoffs) April 21–30, 1971 (Finals)
Number of games	82
Number of teams	17
TV partner(s)	ABC
Draft
Top draft pick	Bob Lanier
Picked by	Detroit Pistons
Regular season
Top seed	Milwaukee Bucks
Season MVP	Lew Alcindor (Milwaukee)
Top scorer	Lew Alcindor (Milwaukee)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Baltimore Bullets
Eastern runners-up	New York Knicks
Western champions	Milwaukee Bucks
Western runners-up	Los Angeles Lakers
Finals
Champions	Milwaukee Bucks
Finals MVP	Lew Alcindor (Milwaukee)

Notable occurrences

• The NBA expanded to 17 teams as the Portland Trail Blazers, Buffalo Braves, and Cleveland Cavaliers began play.^[2] For the first time, the league was divided into Conferences (East and West), each with two divisions. The Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks were shifted from the old Eastern Division to the Western Conference's Midwest Division, and the Atlanta Hawks were switched from the Western Division to the Eastern Conference's Central Division.
• Before the season, on June 18, 1970, the NBA owners voted 13–4, to seek approval from Congress for a merger with the 11-team American Basketball Association into a 28-team league that would retain the NBA name.^[3] The NBA players opposed the merger, and Oscar Robertson filed an antitrust lawsuit that prevented further proceedings.
• The 1971 NBA All-Star Game was played at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California, with the West beating the East 108–107. Lenny Wilkens of the Seattle SuperSonics won the game's MVP award.
• The Rookie of the Year award was shared by two players for the first time in league history. They were Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics and Geoff Petrie of the Portland Trail Blazers.^[4]
• In only their third year of existence, the Bucks won the NBA Championship, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in four straight games. This was the first NBA finals to feature none of the NBA's foundation franchises; the Bullets franchise had joined the NBA as the Chicago Packers in 1961, and the Bucks franchise had joined in 1968. It was also the first NBA finals since 1956 to feature neither Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain.
• Among those who retired this season include Al Attles, Bob Boozer, Connie Dierking, Bailey Howell, Tom Meschery and Adrian Smith.

Coaching changes

Offseason
Team	1969–70 coach	1970–71 coach
Buffalo Braves	Expansion	Dolph Schayes
Cleveland Cavaliers	Expansion	Bill Fitch
Portland Trail Blazers	Expansion	Rolland Todd
San Francisco Warriors	George C. Lee	Al Attles
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
N/A

Teams

1970-71 National Basketball Association
Eastern Conference
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Atlantic	Boston Celtics	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston Garden	13,909
	Buffalo Braves *	Buffalo, New York	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	15,280
	New York Knicks	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	19,812
	Philadelphia 76ers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	The Spectrum	18,176
Central	Atlanta Hawks	Atlanta, Georgia	Alexander Memorial Coliseum	9,191
	Baltimore Bullets	Baltimore, Maryland	Baltimore Civic Center	11,271
	Cincinnati Royals	Cincinnati, Ohio	Cincinnati Gardens	11,000
	Cleveland Cavaliers *	Cleveland, Ohio	Cleveland Arena	10,000
Western Conference
Midwest	Chicago Bulls	Chicago, Illinois	Chicago Stadium	18,676
	Detroit Pistons	Detroit, Michigan	Cobo Arena	12,191
	Milwaukee Bucks	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Milwaukee Arena	10,783
	Phoenix Suns	Phoenix, Arizona	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	14,870
Pacific	Los Angeles Lakers	Inglewood, California	The Forum	17,505
	Portland Trail Blazers *	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum	12,888
	San Diego Rockets	San Diego, California	San Diego Sports Arena	14,500
	San Francisco Warriors	Daly City, California	Cow Palace	12,953
	Seattle SuperSonics	Seattle, Washington	Seattle Center Coliseum	17,072

Expansion team *

Map of teams

Celtics

Braves

Knicks

76ers

Hawks

Bullets

Royals

Cavaliers

Bulls

Pistons

Suns

Bucks

Lakers

Blazers

Rockets

Warriors

Sonics

Atlantic Division Central Division Midwest Division Pacific Division

Final standings

By division

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-New York Knicks	52	30	.634	–	32–9	19–20	1–1	10–6
x-Philadelphia 76ers	47	35	.573	5	24–15	21–18	2–2	10–6
Boston Celtics	44	38	.537	8	25–14	18–22	1–2	8–8
Buffalo Braves	22	60	.268	30	14–23	6–30	2–7	2–10

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Baltimore Bullets	42	40	.512	–	24–13	16–25	2–2	10–6
x-Atlanta Hawks	36	46	.439	6	21–20	14–26	1–0	9–7
Cincinnati Royals	33	49	.402	9	17–16	11–28	5–5	16–6
Cleveland Cavaliers	15	67	.183	27	11–30	2–37	2–0	1–13

Midwest Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	66	16	.805	–	34–2	28–13	4–1	14–4
x-Chicago Bulls	51	31	.622	15	30–11	17–19	4–1	7–11
Phoenix Suns	48	34	.585	18	27–14	19–20	2–0	9–9
Detroit Pistons	45	37	.549	21	24–17	20–19	1–1	6–12

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	48	34	.585	–	30–11	17–22	1–1	15–7
x-San Francisco Warriors	41	41	.500	7	20–18	19–21	2–2	12–10
San Diego Rockets	40	42	.488	8	24–15	15–26	1–1	14–8
Seattle SuperSonics	38	44	.463	10	27–13	11–30	0–1	10–14
Portland Trail Blazers	29	53	.354	19	18–21	9–26	2–6	3–15

By conference

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-New York Knicks	52	30	.634
2	y-Baltimore Bullets	42	40	.512
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	47	35	.573
4	x-Atlanta Hawks	36	46	.439
5	Boston Celtics	44	38	.537
6	Cincinnati Royals	33	49	.402
7	Buffalo Braves	22	60	.268
8	Cleveland Cavaliers	15	67	.183

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-Milwaukee Bucks	66	16	.805
2	y-Los Angeles Lakers	48	34	.585
3	x-Chicago Bulls	51	31	.622
4	x-San Francisco Warriors	41	41	.500
5	Phoenix Suns	48	34	.585
6	Detroit Pistons	45	37	.549
7	San Diego Rockets	40	42	.488
8	Seattle SuperSonics	38	44	.463
9	Portland Trail Blazers	29	53	.354

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Main article: 1971 NBA playoffs

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

NBA Finals

A1

New York*

4

C2

Atlanta

1

A1

New York*

3

Eastern Conference

C1

Baltimore*

4

C1

Baltimore*

4

A2

Philadelphia

3

C1

Baltimore*

0

M1

Milwaukee*

4

M1

Milwaukee*

4

P2

San Francisco

1

M1

Milwaukee*

4

Western Conference

P1

Los Angeles*

1

P1

Los Angeles*

4

M2

Chicago

3

• * Division winner
• Bold Series winner
• Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Lew Alcindor	Milwaukee Bucks	31.7
Rebounds per game	Wilt Chamberlain	Los Angeles Lakers	18.2
Assists per game	Norm Van Lier	Cincinnati Royals	10.1
FG%	Johnny Green	Cincinnati Royals	.587
FT%	Chet Walker	Chicago Bulls	.859

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Lew Alcindor, Milwaukee Bucks
• Co-Rookies of the Year: Geoff Petrie, Portland Trail Blazers and Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
• Coach of the Year: Dick Motta, Chicago Bulls

• All-NBA First Team:
  • G – Dave Bing, Detroit Pistons
  • G – Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers
  • C – Lew Alcindor, Milwaukee Bucks
  • F – Billy Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers
  • F – John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • F – Gus Johnson, Baltimore Bullets
  • F – Bob Love, Chicago Bulls
  • C – Willis Reed, New York Knicks
  • G – Walt Frazier, New York Knicks
  • G – Oscar Robertson, Milwaukee Bucks
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Geoff Petrie, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Bob Lanier, Detroit Pistons
  • Calvin Murphy, San Diego Rockets
  • Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
  • Pete Maravich, Atlanta Hawks
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Dave DeBusschere, New York Knicks
  • Gus Johnson, Baltimore Bullets
  • Nate Thurmond, San Francisco Warriors
  • Walt Frazier, New York Knicks
  • Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
  • Paul Silas, Phoenix Suns
  • Lew Alcindor, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Jerry Sloan, Chicago Bulls
  • Norm Van Lier, Cincinnati Royals

See also

• 1971 NBA Finals
• 1971 NBA playoffs
• 1970–71 ABA season
• List of NBA regular season records

References

1. Moussavi, Sam (August 1, 2016). Milwaukee Bucks. Weigl Publishers. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-4896-4704-7.
2. "Season Review: 1970-71". NBA.com. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
3. "NBA Okays Merger With ABA", AP report in Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, June 19, 1970, p.D1
4. Janoff, Barry. "15 Reasons NBA 1970-71 Kicks the Butt of NBA 2010-11". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 27, 2022.