1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks season

1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks season
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 @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio WTMJ

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 getting Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[1] Key part of the championship season was the acquisition of Oscar Robertson. Other role players on the Bucks included players such as Bob Dandridge (18.4 ppg) and Jon McGlocklin (15.8 ppg), power forward Greg Smith and key reserves Lucius Allen, Bob Boozer and Dick Cunningham completing the nucleus. The season included a 20-game winning streak, the NBA's longest at the time, and still ranked fifth all-time. And 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.

Draft picks

Round Player School/Club Team
1 Gary Freeman Oregon State
2 Bill Zopf Duquesne
3 Marvin Winkler SW Louisiana
4 Virgle Fredricks Drury
5 Mike Grosso Louisville
6 Willy Watson Oklahoma City
7 John Rinka Kenyon
8 Jim Samo Northwestern
9 Joe Hamilton North Texas State
10 Bob Seemer Georgia Tech

[2]

Roster

Milwaukee Bucks roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
C 33 Alcindor, Lew 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA
PG 7 Allen, Lucius 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) UCLA
PF 20 Boozer, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Kansas State
C 19 Cunningham, Dick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Murray State
SF 10 Dandridge, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Norfolk State
F 18 Greacen, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 206 lb (93 kg) Rutgers
SG 14 McGlocklin, Jon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Indiana
SF 35 McLemore, McCoy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Drake
PG 1 Robertson, Oscar 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Cincinnati
PF 4 Smith, Greg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Western Kentucky
PG 8 Webb, Jeff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Kansas State
G 5 Winkler, Marv 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Louisiana Lafayette
G 6 Zopf, Bill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Duquesne
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

In 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

Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 6616.805–34–228–134–114–4
x-Chicago Bulls 5131.6221530–1117–194–17–11
Phoenix Suns 4834.5851827–1419–202–09–9
Detroit Pistons 4537.5492124–1720–191–16–12
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Milwaukee Bucks6616.805
2 y-Los Angeles Lakers4834.585
3 x-Chicago Bulls5131.622
4 x-San Francisco Warriors4141.500
5 Phoenix Suns4834.585
6 Detroit Pistons4537.549
7 San Diego Rockets4042.488
8 Seattle SuperSonics3844.463
9 Portland Trail Blazers2953.354

Record vs. opponents

1970–71 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CIN CLE DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —3–32–43–11–42–44–00–53–21–43–34–21–42–22–32–33–2
Baltimore 3–3—3–33–12–33–34–02–32–31–42–43–33–22–24–12–33–2
Boston 4–23–3—4–04–14–23–12–33–20–50–64–22–32–23–23–23–2
Buffalo 1–31–30–4—0–40–45–71–52–20–42–20–41–36–61–31–31–3
Chicago 4–13–21–44–0—4–04–03–32–41–53–23–23–33–16–04–23–2
Cincinnati 4–23–32–44–00–4—5–11–41–41–42–41–51–44–01–32–31–4
Cleveland 0–40–41–37–50–41–5—2–20–40–40–41–30–42–100–41–30–4
Detroit 5–03–23–25–13–34–12–2—2–31–52–32–32–43–14–21–43–1
Los Angeles 2–33–22–32–24–24–14–03–2—1–43–23–22–44–03–34–24–2
Milwaukee 4–14–15–04–05–14–14–05–14–1—1–44–14–23–14–16–05–1
New York 3–34–26–02–22–34–24–03–22–34–1—2–44–13–14–13–22–3
Philadelphia 2–43–32–44–02–35–13–13–22–31–44–2—3–24–03–23–23–2
Phoenix 4–12–33–23–13–34–14–04–24–22–41–42–3—4–02–43–23–2
Portland 2–22–22–26–61–30–410–21–30–41–31–30–40–4—0–41–32–4
San Diego 3–21–42–33–10–63–14–02–43–31–41–42–34–24–0—2–45–1
San Francisco 3–23–22–33–12–43–23–14–12–40–62–32–32–33–14–2—3–3
Seattle 2–32–32–33–12–34–14–01–32–41–53–22–32–34–21–53–3—

Game log

1970–71 game log
Total: 66–16 (Home: 8–1; Road: 3–2)
October: 5–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–1)
November: 6–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 3–0)
December: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0)
January: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–0)
February: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
March: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0)
1970–71 schedule

Playoffs

West Conference Semifinals

(M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (P2) San Francisco Warriors: Bucks win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ San Francisco: Milwaukee 107, San Francisco 96
  • Game 2 @ Madison: Milwaukee 104, San Francisco 90
  • Game 3 @ Madison: Milwaukee 114, San Francisco 102
  • Game 4 @ San Francisco: San Francisco 106, Milwaukee 104
  • Game 5 @ Madison: Milwaukee 136, San Francisco 86

West Conference Finals

(M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (P1) Los Angeles Lakers: Bucks win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 106, Los Angeles 85
  • Game 2 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 91, Los Angeles 73
  • Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Milwaukee 107
  • Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Milwaukee 117, Los Angeles 94
  • Game 5 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 116, Los Angeles 98

NBA Finals

GameDateHome TeamResultRoad Team
Game 1April 21Milwaukee98–88Baltimore
Game 2April 25Baltimore83–102Milwaukee
Game 3April 28Milwaukee107–99Baltimore
Game 4April 30Baltimore106–118Milwaukee

Bucks win series 4–0


Player statistics

Legend
  GP 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

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Lew Alcindor 8231.7
Lucius Allen 617.1
Bob Boozer 809.1
Dick Cunningham 762.6
Bob Dandridge 7918.4
Gary Freeman 413.7
Bob Greacen 22.5
Jon McGlocklin 8215.8
McCoy McLemore 284.7
Oscar Robertson 8119.4
Greg Smith 8211.7
Jeff Webb 292.2
Marv Winkler 32.7
Bill Zopf 532.2

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Lew Alcindor 1426.6
Lucius Allen 147.3
Bob Boozer 147.4
Dick Cunningham 141.7
Bob Dandridge 1419.2
Bob Greacen 71.7
Jon McGlocklin 1414.9
McCoy McLemore 100.7
Oscar Robertson 1418.3
Greg Smith 1411.6
Jeff Webb 91.2
Marv Winkler 50.0

Awards and records

  • Lew Alcindor, NBA scoring champion
  • Lew Alcindor, NBA MVP
  • Lew Alcindor, NBA Finals MVP

Transactions

On 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

April 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

Subtractions
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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 NBA.com: All-Time Finals Challenge: 1971 Bucks
  2. ↑ Milwaukee Bucks (1968 – ) 1970 Stats, History, Awards and More Archived 2008-03-16 at the Wayback Machine.
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