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1970–71 Baltimore Bullets season

The 1970–71 season was the 10th season of the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA and eighth season under the Baltimore Bullets name. This would be its first year in the newly created Central Division inside the Eastern Conference. Despite playing close to .500 basketball all season, the Bullets would capture the Central Division with a 42–40 record.

Despite their pedestrian season, the Bullets would knock off the higher-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and established rival New York Knicks in seven games apiece to advance to their first NBA championship, where they were swept in four straight by the Milwaukee Bucks. This would be the only Finals appearance for the Bullets/Wizards franchise while based in Baltimore; the next time they would advance to the Finals would come four years later, in 1975, by which point the franchise moved to Washington, D.C.

Draft picks

The Baltimore Bullets made seventeen selections in the 1970 NBA draft.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

Playoffs

In the playoffs the Bullets would get off to a quick start as they grabbed a 3–1 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers. However, the Bullets would find themselves in a 7th game and that game the Bullets would emerge victorious 128–120. The Bullets would face the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals. The Bullets would finally break through in Game 5 and break the tie in the series by beating the Knicks at Madison Square Garden 89–84. The Bullets would have a chance to close the series out at home, but the Knicks would bounce back with a 113–96 win to force a 7th and deciding game in New York. In the seventh game, the Bullets would triumph, winning in New York by 2 points to reach the NBA Finals.However, the Bullets would be swept in 4 straight games by the Milwaukee Bucks.

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | March 24 | Philadelphia | L 112–126 | Loughery, Gus Johnson (19) | Wes Unseld (20) | Kevin Loughery (4) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>6,707 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | March 26 | @ Philadelphia | W 119–107 | Marin, Monroe (24) | Wes Unseld (18) | Earl Monroe (6) | Spectrum<br>10,369 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | March 28 | Philadelphia | W 111–103 | Earl Monroe (29) | Wes Unseld (24) | Kevin Loughery (7) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>5,589 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | March 30 | @ Philadelphia | W 120–105 | Jack Marin (27) | Gus Johnson (14) | Earl Monroe (6) | Spectrum<br>8,909 | 3–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | April 1 | Philadelphia | L 103–104 | Earl Monroe (26) | Wes Unseld (18) | Kevin Loughery (5) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>10,998 | 3–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | April 3 | @ Philadelphia | L 94–98 | Earl Monroe (30) | Wes Unseld (18) | Kevin Loughery (5) | Spectrum<br>7,059 | 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | April 4 | Philadelphia | W 128–120 | Jack Marin (33) | Wes Unseld (22) | Gus Johnson (8) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>6,662 | 4–3 |-

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 6 | @ New York | L 111–112 | Earl Monroe (29) | Wes Unseld (22) | Earl Monroe (4) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,500 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 9 | @ New York | L 88–107 | John Tresvant (20) | Wes Unseld (20) | Kevin Loughery (16) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,500 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 11 | New York | W 114–88 | Earl Monroe (31) | Wes Unseld (26) | Wes Unseld (9) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>8,083 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | April 14 | New York | W 101–80 | Jack Marin (27) | John Tresvant (17) | Wes Unseld (6) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>12,289 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | April 16 | @ New York | L 84–89 | Jack Marin (25) | John Tresvant (17) | Wes Unseld (3) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,500 | 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | April 18 | New York | W 113–96 | Earl Monroe (27) | Wes Unseld (15) | Earl Monroe (7) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>11,211 | 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | April 19 | @ New York | W 93–91 | Earl Monroe (26) | Wes Unseld (20) | Earl Monroe (6) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,500 | 4–3 |-

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 21 | @ Milwaukee | L 88–98 | Earl Monroe (26) | John Tresvant (14) | Fred Carter (4) | Milwaukee Arena<br>10,746 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 25 | Milwaukee | L 83–102 | Jack Marin (22) | Wes Unseld (20) | Earl Monroe (6) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>12,289 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 28 | @ Milwaukee | L 99–107 | Jack Marin (21) | Wes Unseld (23) | Wes Unseld (6) | Milwaukee Arena<br>10,746 | 0–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 30 | Milwaukee | L 106–118 | Fred Carter (28) | Wes Unseld (23) | Wes Unseld (10) | Baltimore Civic Center<br>11,842 | 0–4 |-

Awards and honors

References