1971 NBA playoffs

Postseason tournament August 2023 NBA playoffs 1971 1970–71 March 24–April 30, 1971 8 Milwaukee Bucks 1 Baltimore Bullets Los Angeles Lakers New York Knicks 1970 1972 The 1971 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1970–71 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks defeating the Eastern Conference champion Baltimore Bullets four games to none in the NBA Finals. Led by Finals MVP and the previous season's Rookie of the Year Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson, the Bucks became the fastest expansion team in NBA history to win the championship (a record that they still hold through 2025), and did so in dominating fashion, finishing 12–2 in the playoffs with a postseason average point differential of 14.5.1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks Games – Basketball-Reference.com https://web.archive.org/web/20110804211235/http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIL/1971_games.html 2011-08-04 The playoff format kept the number of teams qualifying the same, albeit with a different format from the two-division format, since there were now four divisions rather than two due to the Eastern and Western Divisions being renamed as the Eastern and Western Conferences, with each division qualifying its champion and second-place team (as opposed to having the top four from the Eastern and Western). In the Conference Semifinals, the champion of each division played the second place team in the other, with the divisional champion having home-court advantage. The two winners then played for the conference championship. This was the first NBA Finals appearance for the Bullets, and their only trip to the championship round in Baltimore; they made three more appearances (winning one title) later in the decade. The 1971 playoffs was the last for the San Francisco Warriors under that moniker; the following season, symbolizing their already-established home base of Oakland, they changed their name to the Golden State Warriors. Bracket Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals Eastern Conference Western Conference A1 New York* 4 C2 Atlanta 1 C1 Baltimore* 4 A2 Philadelphia 3 M1 Milwaukee* 4 P2 San Francisco 1 P1 Los Angeles* 4 M2 Chicago 3 A1 New York* 3 C1 Baltimore* 4 M1 Milwaukee* 4 P1 Los Angeles* 1 C1 Baltimore* 0 M1 Milwaukee* 4* Division winner Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage Conference semifinals Eastern Conference semifinals (A1) New York Knicks vs. (C2) Atlanta Hawks #eee March 25 Boxscore Atlanta Hawks 101 New York Knicks 112 22–32 26–22 32–21 21–37 Pete Maravich 23 Bill Bridges 13 Hazzard, Maravich 5 each Bill Bradley 25 Willis Reed 22 Bill Bradley 4 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,500 New York leads series, 1–0 March 27 Boxscore Atlanta Hawks 113 New York Knicks 104 14–26 35–30 33–23 31–25 Lou Hudson 35 Bill Bridges 36 Pete Maravich 5 Walt Frazier 29 Dave DeBusschere 15 Bill Bradley 4 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,500 Series tied, 1–1 #eee March 28 Boxscore New York Knicks 110 Atlanta Hawks 95 24–27 23–27 37–23 26–18 Willis Reed 26 Dave DeBusschere 17 Walt Frazier 9 Walt Bellamy 29 Walt Bellamy 18 Walt Hazzard 7 Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia 7,192 New York leads series, 2–1 March 30 Boxscore New York Knicks 113 Atlanta Hawks 107 32–28 31–29 27–29 23–21 Walt Frazier 26 Dave DeBusschere 13 Walt Frazier 8 Walt Bellamy 25 Bill Bridges 18 Walt Hazzard 9 Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia 7,192 New York leads series, 3–1 #eee April 1 Boxscore Atlanta Hawks 107 New York Knicks 111 28–25 29–25 28–25 22–33 Lou Hudson 29 Bellamy, Bridges 20 each Walt Bellamy 5 Dave DeBusschere 29 Dave DeBusschere 22 Willis Reed 5 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,500 New York wins series, 4–1 This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=ATL&opp_id=NYK&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus New York Knicks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021 (C1) Baltimore Bullets vs. (A2) Philadelphia 76ers #eee March 24 Boxscore Philadelphia 76ers 126 Baltimore Bullets 112 28–28 27–28 35–21 36–35 Hal Greer 30 Luke Jackson 13 Archie Clark 7 Loughery, Gus Johnson 19 Wes Unseld 20 Kevin Loughery 4 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 6,707 Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 March 26 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 119 Philadelphia 76ers 107 36–29 32–32 24–17 27–29 Marin, Monroe 24 each Wes Unseld 18 Earl Monroe 6 Archie Clark 26 Billy Cunningham 11 Archie Clark 6 Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 10,369 Series tied, 1–1 #eee March 28 Boxscore Philadelphia 76ers 103 Baltimore Bullets 111 25–27 22–25 29–28 27–31 Hal Greer 28 Billy Cunningham 19 Billy Cunningham 10 Earl Monroe 29 Wes Unseld 24 Kevin Loughery 7 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 5,589 Baltimore leads series, 2–1 March 30 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 120 Philadelphia 76ers 105 30–32 32–30 27–19 31–24 Jack Marin 27 Gus Johnson 14 Earl Monroe 6 Archie Clark 24 Billy Cunningham 17 Billy Cunningham 8 Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 8,909 Baltimore leads series, 3–1 #eee April 1 Boxscore Philadelphia 76ers 104 Baltimore Bullets 103 28–18 30–24 26–29 20–32 Billy Cunningham 32 Billy Cunningham 20 Hal Greer 6 Earl Monroe 26 Wes Unseld 18 Kevin Loughery 5 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 10,998 Baltimore leads series, 3–2 April 3 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 94 Philadelphia 76ers 98 16–30 24–25 34–20 20–23 Earl Monroe 30 Wes Unseld 18 Kevin Loughery 5 Billy Cunningham 33 Billy Cunningham 16 Billy Cunningham 5 Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 7,059 Series tied, 3–3 #eee April 4 Boxscore Philadelphia 76ers 120 Baltimore Bullets 128 30–31 22–43 27–25 41–29 Archie Clark 37 Billy Cunningham 19 Clark, Greer 5 each Jack Marin 33 Wes Unseld 22 Gus Johnson 8 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 6,662 Baltimore wins series, 4–3 Bailey Howell's final NBA game. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=PHI&opp_id=WAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Philadelphia 76ers versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021 Western Conference semifinals (M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (P2) San Francisco Warriors #eee March 27 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 107 San Francisco Warriors 96 34–24 24–28 23–24 26–20 Oscar Robertson 31 Abdul-Jabbar, Smith 10 each Oscar Robertson 9 Jeff Mullins 30 Nate Thurmond 15 Jeff Mullins 7 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California 11,216 Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 March 29 Boxscore San Francisco Warriors 90 Milwaukee Bucks 104 20–25 24–18 16–29 30–32 Nate Thurmond 18 Clyde Lee 13 Mullins, Williams 4 each Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 18 Oscar Robertson 7 University of Wisconsin Field House, Madison, Wisconsin 12,868 Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 #eee March 30 Boxscore San Francisco Warriors 102 Milwaukee Bucks 114 22–24 20–31 36–31 24–28 Jerry Lucas 25 Jerry Lucas 20 Ron Williams 8 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 12 Lucius Allen 8 University of Wisconsin Field House, Madison, Wisconsin 12,868 Milwaukee leads series, 3–0 April 1 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 104 San Francisco Warriors 106 24–19 20–34 25–25 35–28 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21 Lucius Allen 6 Jerry Lucas 32 Jeff Mullins 19 Ron Williams 9 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California 7,615 Milwaukee leads series, 3–1 #eee April 4 Boxscore San Francisco Warriors 86 Milwaukee Bucks 136 18–38 17–31 22–36 29–31 Ron Williams 13 Clyde Lee 11 Mullins, Williams 4 each Jon McGlocklin 28 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 17 Lucius Allen 7 University of Wisconsin Field House, Madison, Wisconsin 12,868 Milwaukee wins series, 4–1 All three Milwaukee home games in the series were not played at Milwaukee Arena due to scheduling conflicts. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=GSW&opp_id=MIL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Golden State Warriors versus Milwaukee Bucks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021 (P1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (M2) Chicago Bulls #eee March 24 Boxscore Chicago Bulls 99 Los Angeles Lakers 100 25–20 29–19 20–30 25–31 Bob Love 24 Sloan, Boerwinkle 9 each Tom Boerwinkle 8 Jim McMillian 26 Wilt Chamberlain 21 Gail Goodrich 11 The Forum, Inglewood, California 10,726 Los Angeles leads series, 1–0 March 26 Boxscore Chicago Bulls 95 Los Angeles Lakers 105 14–19 29–24 33–29 19–33 Bob Love 34 Jim Fox 13 Bob Weiss 5 Gail Goodrich 29 Wilt Chamberlain 20 Gail Goodrich 7 The Forum, Inglewood, California 13,469 Los Angeles leads series, 2–0 #eee March 28 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 98 Chicago Bulls 106 26–24 25–27 26–22 21–33 Gail Goodrich 39 Wilt Chamberlain 18 Goodrich, Chamberlain 6 each Bob Love 27 Chet Walker 12 Bob Weiss 11 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 10,101 Mendy Rudolph, Bob Rakel, Allan Brunkhorst Los Angeles leads series, 2–1 March 30 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 102 Chicago Bulls 112 29–22 22–30 32–26 19–34 Gail Goodrich 32 Wilt Chamberlain 23 Wilt Chamberlain 7 Bob Love 36 Jerry Sloan 12 Bob Weiss 13 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 18,650 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 1 Boxscore Chicago Bulls 89 Los Angeles Lakers 115 23–27 31–28 20–31 15–29 Bob Love 21 Jim Fox 11 Weiss, King 7 each Gail Goodrich 33 Wilt Chamberlain 14 Gail Goodrich 11 The Forum, Inglewood, California 13,935 Los Angeles leads series, 3–2 April 4 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 99 Chicago Bulls 113 30–29 27–23 15–28 27–33 Gail Goodrich 25 Wilt Chamberlain 33 Wilt Chamberlain 9 Bob Weiss 25 Tom Boerwinkle 18 Boerwinkle, Walker 6 each Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 14,211 Series tied, 3–3 #eee April 6 Boxscore Chicago Bulls 98 Los Angeles Lakers 109 25–30 23–22 26–25 24–32 Sloan, Love 24 each Jim Fox 12 Bob Weiss 8 Gail Goodrich 29 Wilt Chamberlain 19 Goodrich, Chamberlain 9 each The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Los Angeles wins series, 4–3 This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first meeting. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=CHI&opp_id=LAL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Chicago Bulls versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Los Angeles leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1968 Chicago Bulls 1 Los Angeles Lakers 4 1968 Western Division Semifinals Conference finals Eastern Conference finals (A1) New York Knicks vs. (C1) Baltimore Bullets #eee April 6 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 111 New York Knicks 112 28–30 25–28 34–28 24–26 Earl Monroe 29 Wes Unseld 22 Earl Monroe 4 Walt Frazier 24 Dave DeBusschere 17 Walt Frazier 7 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,500 New York leads series, 1–0 April 9 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 88 New York Knicks 107 23–21 25–27 15–25 25–34 John Tresvant 20 Wes Unseld 20 Kevin Loughery 16 Dick Barnett 14 Dave DeBusschere 14 Walt Frazier 5 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,500 New York leads series, 2–0 #eee April 11 Boxscore New York Knicks 88 Baltimore Bullets 114 26–25 19–32 18–31 25–26 Walt Frazier 17 Willis Reed 10 Barnett, Bradley 5 each Earl Monroe 31 Wes Unseld 26 Wes Unseld 9 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 8,083 New York leads series, 2–1 April 14 Boxscore New York Knicks 80 Baltimore Bullets 101 19–22 24–29 22–25 15–25 Walt Frazier 16 Dave DeBusschere 9 Walt Frazier 5 Jack Marin 27 John Tresvant 17 Wes Unseld 6 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 12,289 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 16 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 84 New York Knicks 89 16–24 24–20 22–26 22–19 Jack Marin 25 John Tresvant 17 Wes Unseld 3 Walt Frazier 28 Dave DeBusschere 17 Bill Bradley 4 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,500 New York leads series, 3–2 April 18 Boxscore New York Knicks 96 Baltimore Bullets 113 18–27 25–29 28–34 25–23 Dave DeBusschere 24 Dave DeBusschere 10 Dick Barnett 5 Earl Monroe 27 Wes Unseld 15 Earl Monroe 7 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 11,211 Series tied, 3–3 #eee April 19 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 93 New York Knicks 91 19–21 24–26 30–21 20–23 Earl Monroe 26 Wes Unseld 20 Earl Monroe 6 Dick Barnett 26 Willis Reed 12 Walt Frazier 4 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,500 Baltimore wins series, 4–3 The Bullets become the second team after the Boston Celtics in the 1969 Finals to win Game 7 on the road after the home team won each of the first six games. This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning the first two meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=NYK&opp_id=WAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — New York Knicks versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021New York leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1969 Baltimore Bullets 0 New York Knicks 4 1969 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1970 Baltimore Bullets 3 New York Knicks 4 1970 Eastern Division Semifinals Western Conference finals (M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (P1) Los Angeles Lakers #eee April 9 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 85 Milwaukee Bucks 106 21–26 23–17 22–29 19–34 Wilt Chamberlain 22 Wilt Chamberlain 20 Gail Goodrich 7 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22 Oscar Robertson 10 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 April 11 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 73 Milwaukee Bucks 91 15–24 22–20 20–24 16–23 Wilt Chamberlain 26 Wilt Chamberlain 22 Gail Goodrich 4 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22 Bob Dandridge 11 Oscar Robertson 7 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 #eee April 14 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 107 Los Angeles Lakers 118 27–28 28–28 22–34 30–28 Bob Dandridge 25 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 19 Oscar Robertson 9 four players 24 each Wilt Chamberlain 24 Gail Goodrich 8 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,334 Milwaukee leads series, 2–1 April 16 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 117 Los Angeles Lakers 94 30–22 32–29 30–23 25–20 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20 Oscar Robertson 6 Gail Goodrich 26 Wilt Chamberlain 16 Gail Goodrich 11 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Milwaukee leads series, 3–1 #eee April 18 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 98 Milwaukee Bucks 116 29–30 20–25 17–26 32–35 Happy Hairston 27 Wilt Chamberlain 12 Gail Goodrich 9 Greg Smith 22 Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge 15 each Oscar Robertson 12 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Milwaukee wins series, 4–1 This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=MIL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Milwaukee Bucks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021 NBA Finals: (M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (C1) Baltimore Bullets 1971 NBA Finals #eee April 21 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 88 Milwaukee Bucks 98 22–28 20–22 26–29 20–19 Earl Monroe 26 John Tresvant 14 Fred Carter 4 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 17 Oscar Robertson 7 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 April 25 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 102 Baltimore Bullets 83 26–26 23–19 30–16 23–22 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24 Oscar Robertson 10 Jack Marin 22 Wes Unseld 20 Earl Monroe 6 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 12,289 Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 #eee April 28 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 99 Milwaukee Bucks 107 22–30 24–24 23–25 30–28 Jack Marin 21 Wes Unseld 23 Wes Unseld 6 Bob Dandridge 29 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21 Oscar Robertson 12 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Milwaukee leads series, 3–0 April 30 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 118 Baltimore Bullets 106 31–22 29–25 29–30 29–29 Oscar Robertson 30 Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge 12 each Oscar Robertson 9 Fred Carter 28 Wes Unseld 23 Wes Unseld 10 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 11,842 Milwaukee wins series, 4–0 The Bucks win their first championship in only their third year of existence. This is also the last NBA Finals to date in which the series alternates in between the venues of the competing teams after every game as opposed to the customary 2–2–1–1–1 and 2–3–2 formats that have been used ever since (with the exception of 1975 and 1978 due to scheduling conflicts, which resulted in the use of a 1–2–2–1–1 format). This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=MIL&opp_id=WAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Milwaukee Bucks versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021 References External links 1971 NBA Playoffs Basketball-Reference.com April 19, 1971 'Bucks vs Knicks "We've Got to Spread a Little Anarchy"' Sports Illustrated Category:NBA playoffs Playoffs fi:NBA-kausi 1970–1971#Pudotuspelit