1971 NBA playoffs


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, and did so in dominating fashion, finishing 12–2 in the playoffs with a postseason average point differential of 14.5.
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. 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 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

Eastern Conference semifinals

(A1) [New York Knicks] vs. (C2) [Atlanta Hawks]

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

(C1) Baltimore Bullets">Baltimore Bullets (1963–73)">Baltimore Bullets vs. (A2) [Philadelphia 76ers]

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

Western Conference semifinals

(M1) [Milwaukee Bucks] vs. (P2) [San Francisco Warriors]

  • 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.

(P1) [Los Angeles Lakers] vs. (M2) [Chicago Bulls]

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


Conference finals

Eastern Conference finals

(A1) [New York Knicks] vs. (C1) Baltimore Bullets">Baltimore Bullets (1963–73)">Baltimore Bullets

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]

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

NBA Finals: (M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (C1) Baltimore Bullets

  • 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.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.