1970 NBA Playoffs

The 1970 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1969-1970 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, four games to three in the NBA Finals. New York's Willis Reed was named NBA Finals MVP.

It was the first NBA championship for the Knicks in franchise history, and marked their first appearance in the NBA Finals since losing their third consecutive NBA Finals in 1953, ironically, to the Lakers while they still played in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

For the Lakers, it was the third straight Western Conference championship, and the second consecutive year they lost in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers dropped their eighth straight NBA Finals series (the previous seven, to the Boston Celtics) and were denied their first NBA championship since 1954.

The 1970 playoffs featured the postseason debut of the second-year Milwaukee Bucks, and they managed a first-round defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Lakers became only the second NBA team to win a series after trailing 3 games to 1 when they beat Phoenix in 7 games in the first round.

3RoundBracket-Byes | RD1= Division Semifinals
RD2= Division Finals
RD3= NBA Finals
group1=Western Division
group2=Eastern Division

RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Atlanta
RD1-score1=4
RD1-seed2=4
RD1-team2=Chicago
RD1-score2=1

RD1-seed3=3
RD1-team3=Phoenix
RD1-score3=3
RD1-seed4=2
RD1-team4=L.A. Lakers
RD1-score4=4

RD1-seed5=1
RD1-team5=New York
RD1-score5=4
RD1-seed6=3
RD1-team6=Baltimore
RD1-score6=3

RD1-seed7=4
RD1-team7=Philadelphia
RD1-score7=1
RD1-seed8=2
RD1-team8=Milwaukee
RD1-score8=4

RD2-seed1=1
RD2-team1=Atlanta
RD2-score1=0
RD2-seed2=2
RD2-team2=L.A. Lakers
RD2-score2=4

RD2-seed3=1
RD2-team3=New York
RD2-score3=4
RD2-seed4=2
RD2-team4=Milwaukee
RD2-score4=1

RD3-seed1=W2
RD3-team1=L.A. Lakers
RD3-score1=3
RD3-seed2=E1
RD3-team2=New York
RD3-score2=4

External links

* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1970.html Basketball-Reference.com's 1970 NBA Playoffs page]