# 1970–71 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1970–71 NBA season was the 76ers 22nd season in the NBA and 8th season in Philadelphia. They improved to a record of 47–35. In the playoffs, they lost a hard-fought series with the Baltimore Bullets 4–3, who represented the Eastern Conference in the Finals. This was the final season for forward Bailey Howell, who was signed by Philadelphia & was a vital part in 2 Celtics championships in 1968 and 1969.
The Sixers also tried a new uniform style. Instead of the traditional PHILA in block lettering, they used a design that wrote out Seventy Sixers in cursive writing. These uniforms did not last the entire year.

## Offseason
### Draft picks

This table only displays picks through the second round.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 12 | Al Henry | C | United States | Wisconsin |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Atlantic Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-New York Knicks | 52 | 30 | .634 | – | 32–9 | 19–20 | 1–1 | 10–6 |
| x-Philadelphia 76ers | 47 | 35 | .573 | 5 | 24–15 | 21–18 | 2–2 | 10–6 |
| Boston Celtics | 44 | 38 | .537 | 8 | 25–14 | 18–22 | 1–2 | 8–8 |
| Buffalo Braves | 22 | 60 | .268 | 30 | 14–23 | 6–30 | 2–7 | 2–10 |
| # | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 1 | z-New York Knicks | 52 | 30 | .634 |
| 2 | y-Baltimore Bullets | 42 | 40 | .512 |
| 3 | x-Philadelphia 76ers | 47 | 35 | .573 |
| 4 | x-Atlanta Hawks | 36 | 46 | .439 |
| 5 | Boston Celtics | 44 | 38 | .537 |
| 6 | Cincinnati Royals | 33 | 49 | .402 |
| 7 | Buffalo Braves | 22 | 60 | .268 |
| 8 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 15 | 67 | .183 |
    z – clinched division title
    y – clinched division title
    x – clinched playoff spot

### 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 | — | 3–3 | 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
## Playoffs

1971 playoff game log :
Conference Semifinals: 3–4 (home: 1–2; road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 24
@ Baltimore
W 126–112
Hal Greer (30)
Luke Jackson (13)
Archie Clark (7)
Baltimore Civic Center 6,707
1–0
2
March 26
Baltimore
L 107–119
Archie Clark (26)
Billy Cunningham (11)
Archie Clark (6)
Spectrum 10,369
1–1
3
March 28
@ Baltimore
L 103–111
Hal Greer (30)
Billy Cunningham (19)
Billy Cunningham (10)
Baltimore Civic Center 5,589
1–2
4
March 30
Baltimore
L 105–120
Archie Clark (24)
Billy Cunningham (17)
Billy Cunningham (8)
Spectrum 8,909
1–3
5
April 1
@ Baltimore
W 104–103
Billy Cunningham (32)
Billy Cunningham (20)
Hal Greer (6)
Baltimore Civic Center 10,998
2–3
6
April 3
Baltimore
W 98–94
Billy Cunningham (33)
Billy Cunningham (16)
Billy Cunningham (5)
Spectrum 7,059
3–3
7
April 4
@ Baltimore
L 120–128
Archie Clark (37)
Billy Cunningham (19)
Clark, Greer (5)
Baltimore Civic Center 6,662
3–4 :
1971 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Billy Cunningham, All-NBA First Team