The 1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks season was the third season for the Bucks. Milwaukee posted a 66–16 record in only its third year of existence, and its second since drafting Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).[1] A key part of this championship season was the acquisition of Oscar Robertson. Other role players on the Bucks included players such as Bob Dandridge (18.4 ppg), Jon McGlocklin (15.8 ppg), power forward Greg Smith & key reserves such as Lucius Allen, Bob Boozer and Dick Cunningham completing the nucleus. This season included a 20-game winning streak, the NBA's longest at the time, and still ranked fifth all-time. The Bucks became the first team from the Midwest Division to win the NBA title; it would be 23 years before the Houston Rockets would do the same.
1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks season | |
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NBA champions | |
Conference champions | |
Division champions | |
Head coach | Larry Costello |
Arena | Milwaukee Arena |
Results | |
Record | 66–16 (.805) |
Place | Division: 1st (Midwest) Conference: 1st (Western) |
Playoff finish | NBA champions (Defeated Bullets 4–0) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Radio | WTMJ |
In the 1971 NBA Playoffs, the Bucks defeated the 4th-seeded Warriors in 5 games. In the Western Conference Finals, the team dispatched the Lakers in 5 games. The Bucks made their way into the Finals for the first time in NBA history in just their third year of existence. They faced off against the Baltimore Bullets and swept them in four games. The Bucks had won their first title in franchise history. Lew Alcindor won MVP and Finals MVP honors. HoopsHype would later rank this squad as the team with the sixth-easiest path to an NBA Finals championship due to the records that the San Francisco Warriors and Baltimore Bullets had this season.[2]
Draft picks
editThe Milwaukee Bucks made ten selections in the 1970 NBA draft.[3]
Round | Pick | Player | College/Club team |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | Gary Freeman | Oregon State |
2 | 33 | Bill Zopf | Duquesne |
3 | 50 | Marv Winkler | SW Louisiana |
4 | 67 | Virgle Fredricks | Drury |
5 | 84 | Mike Grosso | Louisville |
6 | 101 | Willy Watson | Oklahoma City |
7 | 118 | John Rinka | Kenyon |
8 | 135 | Jim Samo | Northwestern |
9 | 152 | Joe Hamilton | North Texas State |
10 | 169 | Bob Seemer | Georgia Tech |
Roster
editPlayers | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season
editIn only his second professional season, Lew Alcindor led the league in scoring at 31.7 ppg, ranked second in field goal percentage at .577 and fourth in rebounding at 16.0 rpg.[1] Newly arrived Oscar Robertson turned 32 early in the 1970–71 season, and was past his prime when he came to Milwaukee, but his versatile skills and experience provided a leadership role for the Bucks. Robertson had never won a championship and his desire to win seemed to inspire Alcindor and unite the rest of the Bucks. Robertson ranked third in the league in assists at 8.3 apg and was the Bucks' No. 2 scorer at 19.4 ppg.[1]
Standings
editW | 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 |
# | ||||
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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 |
Record vs. opponents
edit1970–71 NBA Records | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | ATL | BAL | BOS | BUF | CHI | CIN | CLE | DET | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | POR | SDR | SFW | SEA |
Atlanta | — | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 0–5 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 3–2 |
Baltimore | 3–3 | — | 3–3 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 3–2 |
Boston | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 4–0 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 0–5 | 0–6 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 |
Buffalo | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–4 | — | 0–4 | 0–4 | 5–7 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 6–6 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
Chicago | 4–1 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 4–0 | — | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 |
Cincinnati | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 0–4 | — | 5–1 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–4 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–4 |
Cleveland | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 7–5 | 0–4 | 1–5 | — | 2–2 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–10 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–4 |
Detroit | 5–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–3 | 1–5 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–4 | 3–1 |
Los Angeles | 2–3 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–4 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
Milwaukee | 4–1 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 4–1 | — | 1–4 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 6–0 | 5–1 |
New York | 3–3 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 4–1 | — | 2–4 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 |
Philadelphia | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 4–2 | — | 3–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 |
Phoenix | 4–1 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 1–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–0 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 3–2 |
Portland | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 6–6 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 10–2 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–4 | — | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–4 |
San Diego | 3–2 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–6 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 4–0 | — | 2–4 | 5–1 |
San Francisco | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | — | 3–3 |
Seattle | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | — |
Game log
edit1970–71 game log Total: 66–16 (Home: 34–2; Road: 28–14) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 5–1 (home: 3–0; road: 2–1)
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November: 13–2 (home: 5–1; road: 8–1)
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December: 10–4 (home: 7–0; road: 3–4)
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January: 13–2 (home: 6–1; road: 7–1)
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February: 15–2 (home: 6–0; road: 9–2)
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March: 6–5 (home: 4–1; road: 2–4)
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1970–71 schedule |
Playoffs
editPlayer statistics
editGP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
Season
editPlayer | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 82 | 40.1 | 57.7 | 69.0 | 16.0 | 3.3 | 31.7 | ||||
Oscar Robertson | 81 | 39.4 | 49.6 | 85.0 | 5.7 | 8.2 | 19.4 | ||||
Bob Dandridge | 79 | 36.2 | 50.9 | 70.2 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 18.4 | ||||
Jon McGlocklin | 82 | 35.3 | 53.5 | 86.2 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 15.8 | ||||
Greg Smith | 82 | 29.6 | 51.2 | 66.2 | 7.2 | 2.8 | 11.7 | ||||
Bob Boozer | 80 | 22.2 | 45.0 | 81.8 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 9.1 | ||||
Lucius Allen | 61 | 19.0 | 44.7 | 70.0 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 7.1 | ||||
McCoy McLemore | 28 | 14.8 | 36.8 | 82.9 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 4.7 | ||||
Gary Freeman | 41 | 8.2 | 50.8 | 73.7 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 3.7 | ||||
Marv Winkler | 3 | 4.7 | 30.0 | 100.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 2.7 | ||||
Dick Cunningham | 76 | 8.9 | 41.5 | 66.1 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 2.6 | ||||
Bob Greacen | 2 | 21.5 | 8.3 | 42.9 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 2.5 | ||||
Jeff Webb | 29 | 10.3 | 34.6 | 73.3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 2.2 | ||||
Bill Zopf | 53 | 7.5 | 36.3 | 55.6 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.2 |
Playoffs
editPlayer | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 14 | 41.2 | 51.5 | 67.3 | 17.0 | 2.5 | 26.6 | ||||
Bob Dandridge | 14 | 38.2 | 46.3 | 78.2 | 9.6 | 3.4 | 19.2 | ||||
Oscar Robertson | 14 | 37.1 | 48.6 | 75.4 | 5.0 | 8.9 | 18.3 | ||||
Jon McGlocklin | 14 | 35.1 | 53.6 | 84.8 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 14.9 | ||||
Greg Smith | 14 | 32.4 | 54.7 | 55.0 | 8.6 | 2.6 | 11.6 | ||||
Bob Boozer | 14 | 20.2 | 48.2 | 75.9 | 5.3 | 1.2 | 7.4 | ||||
Lucius Allen | 14 | 22.3 | 50.6 | 71.4 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 7.3 | ||||
Dick Cunningham | 14 | 6.4 | 42.9 | 66.7 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 1.7 | ||||
Bob Greacen | 7 | 2.3 | 36.4 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.7 | ||||
Jeff Webb | 9 | 2.6 | 57.1 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.2 | ||||
McCoy McLemore | 10 | 5.2 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 | ||||
Marv Winkler | 5 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Awards and records
edit- Lew Alcindor, NBA scoring champion
- Lew Alcindor, NBA MVP
- Lew Alcindor, NBA Finals MVP
Transactions
editOn April 21, 1970, the Bucks traded two young players, Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk, to the Cincinnati Royals for 10-year veteran guard Oscar Robertson.[1]
Trades
editApril 21, 1970 | To Milwaukee Bucks---- | To Cincinnati Royals---- |
September 17, 1970 | To Milwaukee Bucks---- | To Seattle SuperSonics---- |
February 1, 1971 | To Milwaukee Bucks---- | To Cleveland Cavaliers---- |
Free agents
editSubtractions | ||
---|---|---|
Player | Date signed | New team |
Len Chappell | Expansion Draft May 11, 1970 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Freddie Crawford | Expansion Draft May 11, 1970 | Buffalo Braves |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar before the 1971–72 season.
References
edit- ^ a b c d NBA.com: All-Time Finals Challenge: 1971 Bucks
- ^ "Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever". June 18, 2024.
- ^ "1970 NBA Draft". Basketball Reference. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
- ^ Milwaukee Bucks (1968 – ) 1970 Stats, History, Awards and More Archived 2008-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 5, 2021.