1971 NBA Finals

1971 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1971 Baltimore Bullets Gene Shue 0 Milwaukee Bucks Larry Costello 4 April 21–30 Lew Alcindor(Milwaukee Bucks) Bucks:Lew Alcindor (as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; 1995)Bob Dandridge (2021)Oscar Robertson (1980)Bullets:Earl Monroe (1990)Wes Unseld (1988)Gus Johnson (2010)Coaches:Larry Costello (2022) Bullets defeated Knicks, 4–3 Bucks defeated Lakers, 4–1 The 1971 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series played at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 25th anniversary season of 1970–71. The Western Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks, who were founded as an expansion team three years earlier, swept the Eastern Conference champion Baltimore Bullets to win their first NBA championship in franchise history, becoming the quickest expansion team to ever win the championship. Baltimore had dethroned the 1969–70 NBA champion New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals. This was the first NBA Finals played between two expansion teams. The Bucks were the first Western Conference champions to win the league's championship since the St. Louis Hawks did so in 1958, and were the first expansion team in the NBA to win a championship since the NBA held its first expansion draft. (The Bullets originally started out as the Chicago Packers, an expansion team that began play in 1961 before moving to Baltimore in 1963.) It was also the first NBA title by a Western Conference team that has not since folded or relocated. The Bullets were forced to play Game 1 on a Wednesday night, just 48 hours after having defeated New York in Game 7 of the 1971 Eastern Conference finals, then had to wait four days before playing Game 2. The series was the second (and last) time in NBA history that the teams alternated home games, the other being in 1956. Most other series were held in the 2-2-1-1-1 or 2-3-2 format (a 1-2-2-1-1 format was used in 1975 and 1978). It was also the last NBA Championship Series completed before May 1. The series was broadcast by ABC with Chris Schenkel and Jack Twyman providing the commentary. This was the last playoff series broadcast for both Schenkel and Twyman; they were replaced the next season as the lead announcing team by Keith Jackson and Bill Russell, who served two years before ABC lost the national television contract to CBS after the 1972–73 season. Until 2021, it was the Bucks' only and the city's second championship (with the other being the 1957 Braves). The city's 50-year drought was the fourth longest title drought among American teams in the "Big 4" major professional sports leagues, behind Buffalo and San Diego.Vancouver is the only Canadian city that could be considered part of the drought, albeit on a technicality. The British Columbia Lions, who play in Vancouver, have won six Grey Cup titles as champions of the Canadian Football League, but the CFL is not considered part of the "Big 4". Vancouver only plays in one of the so-called "Big 4" leagues with the Canucks in the NHL as they have never had a franchise in MLB or in the NFL while the NBA Grizzlies only existed for a few years. Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 21 Milwaukee Bucks 98–88 (1–0) Baltimore Bullets Game 2 April 25 Baltimore Bullets 83–102 (0–2) Milwaukee Bucks Game 3 April 28 Milwaukee Bucks 107–99 (3–0) Baltimore Bullets Game 4 April 30 Baltimore Bullets 106–118 (0–4) Milwaukee Bucks Bucks win series 4–0 Game summaries Game 1 #eee Boxscore April 21 Baltimore Bullets 88 Milwaukee Bucks 98 22–28 20–22 26–29 20–19 Earl Monroe 26 John Tresvant 14 Fred Carter 4 Lew Alcindor 31 Lew Alcindor 17 Oscar Robertson 7 Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Mendy Rudolph, Don Murphy Game 2 #eee April 25 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 102 Baltimore Bullets 83 26–26 23–19 30–16 23–22 Lew Alcindor 27 Lew Alcindor 24 Oscar Robertson 10 Jack Marin 22 Wes Unseld 20 Earl Monroe 6 Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 12,289 Richie Powers, Jack Madden Game 3 #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 Lew Alcindor 21 Oscar Robertson 12 Milwaukee leads series, 3–0 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Richie Powers, Ed T. Rush Game 4 #eee April 30 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 118 Baltimore Bullets 106 31–22 29–25 29–30 29–29 Oscar Robertson 30 Oscar Robertson 9 Alcindor, Dandridge 12 each Fred Carter 28 Wes Unseld 23 Wes Unseld 10 Milwaukee wins NBA Finals, 4–0 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 11,842 Mendy Rudolph, Don Murphy Team rosters Milwaukee Bucks Milwaukee Bucks 1970–71 #00471B #FFFFFF #C41230 #FFFFFF 33 Lew Alcindor C 7 2 225 UCLA 7 Lucius Allen PG 6 2 175 UCLA 20 Bob Boozer PF 6 8 215 Kansas State 19 Dick Cunningham C 6 10 245 Murray State 10 Bob Dandridge SF 6 6 195 Norfolk State 18 Bob Greacen F 6 7 206 Rutgers 14 Jon McGlocklin SG 6 5 205 Indiana 35 McCoy McLemore SF 6 7 230 Drake 1 Oscar Robertson PG 6 5 205 Cincinnati 4 Greg Smith basketball, born 1947 PF 6 5 195 Western Kentucky 8 Jeff Webb basketball PG 6 4 170 Kansas State 5 Marv Winkler G 6 1 170 Louisiana-Lafayette 6 Bill Zopf G 6 1 170 Duquesne Larry Costello Tom Nissalke Baltimore Bullets Baltimore Bullets 1970–71 3 Fred Carter G 6 3 185 Mount St. Mary's 31 George E. Johnson basketball F 6 11 245 Stephen F. Austin 25 Gus Johnson basketball F 6 6 230 Idaho 22 Kevin Loughery G 6 3 190 St. John's 24 Jack Marin F 6 6 210 Duke 15 Eddie Miles G 6 4 195 Seattle 10 Earl Monroe G 6 3 185 Winston-Salem State 40 Dorie Murrey PF 6 8 229 Detroit Mercy 12 John Tresvant PF 6 7 215 Seattle 35 Al Tucker SF 6 8 190 Oklahoma Baptist 41 Wes Unseld F 6 7 245 Louisville 11 Gary Zeller G 6 3 205 Drake Gene Shue Bob Ferry See also 1970–71 NBA season 1971 NBA playoffs Notes References External links NBA History Basketball-Reference Milwaukee Bucks: Looking Back At The 1971 NBA Finals Sports Illustrated: Oscar and the Bucks are No. 1 Finals Category:NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Milwaukee Category:Basketball competitions in Baltimore Category:1970s in Baltimore Category:1970s in Milwaukee Category:April 1971 sports events in the United States