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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.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 24–April 30, 1971 |
| Season | 1970–71 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Milwaukee Bucks (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Baltimore Bullets |
| Semifinalists | |
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.[1]
The playoff format kept the amount of teams qualifying the same, albeit with a different format from the two-division format, since there were now four divisions rather than two, 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.
| 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
Eastern Conference semifinals
(A1) New York Knicks vs. (C2) Atlanta Hawks
March 25 |
| Atlanta Hawks 101, New York Knicks 112 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–32, 26–22, 32–21, 21–37 | ||
| Pts: Pete Maravich 23 Rebs: Bill Bridges 13 Asts: Hazzard, Maravich 5 each |
Pts: Bill Bradley 25 Rebs: Willis Reed 22 Asts: Bill Bradley 4 | |
| New York leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 27 |
| Atlanta Hawks 113, New York Knicks 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–26, 35–30, 33–23, 31–25 | ||
| Pts: Lou Hudson 35 Rebs: Bill Bridges 36 Asts: Pete Maravich 5 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 29 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 15 Asts: Bill Bradley 4 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 28 |
| New York Knicks 110, Atlanta Hawks 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–27, 23–27, 37–23, 26–18 | ||
| Pts: Willis Reed 26 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 17 Asts: Walt Frazier 9 |
Pts: Walt Bellamy 29 Rebs: Walt Bellamy 18 Asts: Walt Hazzard 7 | |
| New York leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 30 |
| New York Knicks 113, Atlanta Hawks 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 32–28, 31–29, 27–29, 23–21 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 26 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 13 Asts: Walt Frazier 8 |
Pts: Walt Bellamy 25 Rebs: Bill Bridges 18 Asts: Walt Hazzard 9 | |
| New York leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 1 |
| Atlanta Hawks 107, New York Knicks 111 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–25, 29–25, 28–25, 22–33 | ||
| Pts: Lou Hudson 29 Rebs: Bellamy, Bridges 20 each Asts: Walt Bellamy 5 |
Pts: Dave DeBusschere 29 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 22 Asts: Willis Reed 5 | |
| New York wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[2]
(C1) Baltimore Bullets vs. (A2) Philadelphia 76ers
March 24 |
| Philadelphia 76ers 126, Baltimore Bullets 112 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–28, 27–28, 35–21, 36–35 | ||
| Pts: Hal Greer 30 Rebs: Luke Jackson 13 Asts: Archie Clark 7 |
Pts: Loughery, Gus Johnson 19 Rebs: Wes Unseld 20 Asts: Kevin Loughery 4 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 26 |
| Baltimore Bullets 119, Philadelphia 76ers 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 36–29, 32–32, 24–17, 27–29 | ||
| Pts: Marin, Monroe 24 each Rebs: Wes Unseld 18 Asts: Earl Monroe 6 |
Pts: Archie Clark 26 Rebs: Billy Cunningham 11 Asts: Archie Clark 6 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 28 |
| Philadelphia 76ers 103, Baltimore Bullets 111 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–27, 22–25, 29–28, 27–31 | ||
| Pts: Hal Greer 28 Rebs: Billy Cunningham 19 Asts: Billy Cunningham 10 |
Pts: Earl Monroe 29 Rebs: Wes Unseld 24 Asts: Kevin Loughery 7 | |
| Baltimore leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 30 |
| Baltimore Bullets 120, Philadelphia 76ers 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–32, 32–30, 27–19, 31–24 | ||
| Pts: Jack Marin 27 Rebs: Gus Johnson 14 Asts: Earl Monroe 6 |
Pts: Archie Clark 24 Rebs: Billy Cunningham 17 Asts: Billy Cunningham 8 | |
| Baltimore leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 1 |
| Philadelphia 76ers 104, Baltimore Bullets 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–18, 30–24, 26–29, 20–32 | ||
| Pts: Billy Cunningham 32 Rebs: Billy Cunningham 20 Asts: Hal Greer 6 |
Pts: Earl Monroe 26 Rebs: Wes Unseld 18 Asts: Kevin Loughery 5 | |
| Baltimore leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 3 |
| Baltimore Bullets 94, Philadelphia 76ers 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–30, 24–25, 34–20, 20–23 | ||
| Pts: Earl Monroe 30 Rebs: Wes Unseld 18 Asts: Kevin Loughery 5 |
Pts: Billy Cunningham 33 Rebs: Billy Cunningham 16 Asts: Billy Cunningham 5 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 4 |
| Philadelphia 76ers 120, Baltimore Bullets 128 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–31, 22–43, 27–25, 41–29 | ||
| Pts: Archie Clark 37 Rebs: Billy Cunningham 19 Asts: Clark, Greer 5 each |
Pts: Jack Marin 33 Rebs: Wes Unseld 22 Asts: Gus Johnson 8 | |
| Baltimore wins series, 4–3 | ||
- Bailey Howell's final NBA game.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[3]
Western Conference semifinals
(M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (P2) San Francisco Warriors
March 27 |
| Milwaukee Bucks 107, San Francisco Warriors 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 34–24, 24–28, 23–24, 26–20 | ||
| Pts: Oscar Robertson 31 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar, Smith 10 each Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 |
Pts: Jeff Mullins 30 Rebs: Nate Thurmond 15 Asts: Jeff Mullins 7 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 29 |
| San Francisco Warriors 90, Milwaukee Bucks 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 24–18, 16–29, 30–32 | ||
| Pts: Nate Thurmond 18 Rebs: Clyde Lee 13 Asts: Mullins, Williams 4 each |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 18 Asts: Oscar Robertson 7 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 | ||
March 30 |
| San Francisco Warriors 102, Milwaukee Bucks 114 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–24, 20–31, 36–31, 24–28 | ||
| Pts: Jerry Lucas 25 Rebs: Jerry Lucas 20 Asts: Ron Williams 8 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 33 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 12 Asts: Lucius Allen 8 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 3–0 | ||
April 1 |
| Milwaukee Bucks 104, San Francisco Warriors 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–19, 20–34, 25–25, 35–28 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21 Asts: Lucius Allen 6 |
Pts: Jerry Lucas 32 Rebs: Jeff Mullins 19 Asts: Ron Williams 9 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 4 |
| San Francisco Warriors 86, Milwaukee Bucks 136 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–38, 17–31, 22–36, 29–31 | ||
| Pts: Ron Williams 13 Rebs: Clyde Lee 11 Asts: Mullins, Williams 4 each |
Pts: Jon McGlocklin 28 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 17 Asts: Lucius Allen 7 | |
| 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.[4]
(P1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (M2) Chicago Bulls
March 24 |
| Chicago Bulls 99, Los Angeles Lakers 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 29–19, 20–30, 25–31 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 24 Rebs: Sloan, Boerwinkle 9 each Asts: Tom Boerwinkle 8 |
Pts: Jim McMillian 26 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 21 Asts: Gail Goodrich 11 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 26 |
| Chicago Bulls 95, Los Angeles Lakers 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–19, 29–24, 33–29, 19–33 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 34 Rebs: Jim Fox 13 Asts: Bob Weiss 5 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 29 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 20 Asts: Gail Goodrich 7 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 2–0 | ||
March 28 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 98, Chicago Bulls 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–24, 25–27, 26–22, 21–33 | ||
| Pts: Gail Goodrich 39 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 18 Asts: Goodrich, Chamberlain 6 each |
Pts: Bob Love 27 Rebs: Chet Walker 12 Asts: Bob Weiss 11 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 2–1 | ||
Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 10,101 Referees: Mendy Rudolph, Bob Rakel, Allan Brunkhorst |
March 30 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 102, Chicago Bulls 112 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–22, 22–30, 32–26, 19–34 | ||
| Pts: Gail Goodrich 32 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 23 Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 7 |
Pts: Bob Love 36 Rebs: Jerry Sloan 12 Asts: Bob Weiss 13 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 1 |
| Chicago Bulls 89, Los Angeles Lakers 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–27, 31–28, 20–31, 15–29 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 21 Rebs: Jim Fox 11 Asts: Weiss, King 7 each |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 33 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 14 Asts: Gail Goodrich 11 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 4 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 99, Chicago Bulls 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–29, 27–23, 15–28, 27–33 | ||
| Pts: Gail Goodrich 25 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 33 Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 9 |
Pts: Bob Weiss 25 Rebs: Tom Boerwinkle 18 Asts: Boerwinkle, Walker 6 each | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 6 |
| Chicago Bulls 98, Los Angeles Lakers 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–30, 23–22, 26–25, 24–32 | ||
| Pts: Sloan, Love 24 each Rebs: Jim Fox 12 Asts: Bob Weiss 8 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 29 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 19 Asts: Goodrich, Chamberlain 9 each | |
| Los Angeles wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first meeting.
| Los Angeles leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
Eastern Conference finals
(A1) New York Knicks vs. (C1) Baltimore Bullets
April 6 |
| Baltimore Bullets 111, New York Knicks 112 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–30, 25–28, 34–28, 24–26 | ||
| Pts: Earl Monroe 29 Rebs: Wes Unseld 22 Asts: Earl Monroe 4 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 24 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 17 Asts: Walt Frazier 7 | |
| New York leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 9 |
| Baltimore Bullets 88, New York Knicks 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 25–27, 15–25, 25–34 | ||
| Pts: John Tresvant 20 Rebs: Wes Unseld 20 Asts: Kevin Loughery 16 |
Pts: Dick Barnett 14 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 14 Asts: Walt Frazier 5 | |
| New York leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 11 |
| New York Knicks 88, Baltimore Bullets 114 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–25, 19–32, 18–31, 25–26 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 17 Rebs: Willis Reed 10 Asts: Barnett, Bradley 5 each |
Pts: Earl Monroe 31 Rebs: Wes Unseld 26 Asts: Wes Unseld 9 | |
| New York leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 14 |
| New York Knicks 80, Baltimore Bullets 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 24–29, 22–25, 15–25 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 16 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 9 Asts: Walt Frazier 5 |
Pts: Jack Marin 27 Rebs: John Tresvant 17 Asts: Wes Unseld 6 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 16 |
| Baltimore Bullets 84, New York Knicks 89 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–24, 24–20, 22–26, 22–19 | ||
| Pts: Jack Marin 25 Rebs: John Tresvant 17 Asts: Wes Unseld 3 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 28 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 17 Asts: Bill Bradley 4 | |
| New York leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 18 |
| New York Knicks 96, Baltimore Bullets 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–27, 25–29, 28–34, 25–23 | ||
| Pts: Dave DeBusschere 24 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 10 Asts: Dick Barnett 5 |
Pts: Earl Monroe 27 Rebs: Wes Unseld 15 Asts: Earl Monroe 7 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 19 |
| Baltimore Bullets 93, New York Knicks 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 24–26, 30–21, 20–23 | ||
| Pts: Earl Monroe 26 Rebs: Wes Unseld 20 Asts: Earl Monroe 6 |
Pts: Dick Barnett 26 Rebs: Willis Reed 12 Asts: Walt Frazier 4 | |
| 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.
| New York leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
Western Conference finals
(M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (P1) Los Angeles Lakers
April 9 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 85, Milwaukee Bucks 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–26, 23–17, 22–29, 19–34 | ||
| Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 22 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 20 Asts: Gail Goodrich 7 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22 Asts: Oscar Robertson 10 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 11 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 73, Milwaukee Bucks 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–24, 22–20, 20–24, 16–23 | ||
| Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 26 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 22 Asts: Gail Goodrich 4 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22 Rebs: Bob Dandridge 11 Asts: Oscar Robertson 7 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 14 |
| Milwaukee Bucks 107, Los Angeles Lakers 118 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–28, 28–28, 22–34, 30–28 | ||
| Pts: Bob Dandridge 25 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 19 Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 |
Pts: four players 24 each Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 24 Asts: Gail Goodrich 8 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 16 |
| Milwaukee Bucks 117, Los Angeles Lakers 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–22, 32–29, 30–23, 25–20 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20 Asts: Oscar Robertson 6 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 26 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 16 Asts: Gail Goodrich 11 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 18 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 98, Milwaukee Bucks 116 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–30, 20–25, 17–26, 32–35 | ||
| Pts: Happy Hairston 27 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 12 Asts: Gail Goodrich 9 |
Pts: Greg Smith 22 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge 15 each Asts: Oscar Robertson 12 | |
| Milwaukee wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[7]
April 21 |
| Baltimore Bullets 88, Milwaukee Bucks 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–28, 20–22, 26–29, 20–19 | ||
| Pts: Earl Monroe 26 Rebs: John Tresvant 14 Asts: Fred Carter 4 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 17 Asts: Oscar Robertson 7 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 25 |
| Milwaukee Bucks 102, Baltimore Bullets 83 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–26, 23–19, 30–16, 23–22 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24 Asts: Oscar Robertson 10 |
Pts: Jack Marin 22 Rebs: Wes Unseld 20 Asts: Earl Monroe 6 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 28 |
| Baltimore Bullets 99, Milwaukee Bucks 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–30, 24–24, 23–25, 30–28 | ||
| Pts: Jack Marin 21 Rebs: Wes Unseld 23 Asts: Wes Unseld 6 |
Pts: Bob Dandridge 29 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21 Asts: Oscar Robertson 12 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 3–0 | ||
April 30 |
| Milwaukee Bucks 118, Baltimore Bullets 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–22, 29–25, 29–30, 29–29 | ||
| Pts: Oscar Robertson 30 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge 12 each Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 |
Pts: Fred Carter 28 Rebs: Wes Unseld 23 Asts: Wes Unseld 10 | |
| 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.[8]
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