# 1969–70 Milwaukee Bucks season

The 1969–70 Milwaukee Bucks season was the second season for the Milwaukee Bucks. Led by the heralded rookie center Lew Alcindor, they finished with a 56–26 record, enough for second place in the Eastern Division. After beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4–1 in the Eastern semifinals, they lost to the eventual champions New York Knicks in five games.

## Draft picks

After a 27–55 record in their inaugural NBA season, the Bucks won a coin toss over the Phoenix Suns to give them the right to select first overall in the 1969 NBA draft. Their designated selection had long been a foregone conclusion: UCLA Bruins center Lew Alcindor. However, Alcindor was also selected first overall by the New York Nets in the competing American Basketball Association's entry draft, which triggered a bidding war for Alcindor's services. He eventually opted for the Bucks' five-year $1.4 million offer over a much more lucrative $3.2 million offer from the Nets, preferring the established NBA over a new and struggling ABA.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 1 | Lew Alcindor | C | United States | UCLA |
| 2 | 17 | Bob Greacen | F | United States | Rutgers |
| 3 | 31 | Skeeter Swift | G | United States | East Tennessee State |
| 4 | 45 | Bob Dandridge | F | United States | Norfolk State |
| 6 | 73 | John Arthurs | G | United States | Tulane |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Eastern Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB |
| x-New York Knicks | 60 | 22 | .732 | – |
| x-Milwaukee Bucks | 56 | 26 | .683 | 4 |
| x-Baltimore Bullets | 50 | 32 | .610 | 10 |
| x-Philadelphia 76ers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 18 |
| Cincinnati Royals | 36 | 46 | .439 | 24 |
| Boston Celtics | 34 | 48 | .415 | 26 |
| Detroit Pistons | 31 | 51 | .378 | 29 |

### Record vs. opponents

1969–70 NBA Records :
| Team | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHI | CIN | DET | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | SDR | SFW | SEA |
| Atlanta | — | 2–4 | 6–0 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 4–2 |
| Baltimore | 4–2 | — | 5–2 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 2–4 | 5–1 |
| Boston | 0–6 | 2–5 | — | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 1–6 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 2–4 |
| Chicago | 2–5 | 1–5 | 3–3 | — | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 4–2 | 4–3 |
| Cincinnati | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 2–5 | 2–5 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 1–5 |
| Detroit | 3–3 | 2–5 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | — | 3–3 | 1–6 | 1–6 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Los Angeles | 3–4 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 6–0 |
| Milwaukee | 3–3 | 3–3 | 6–1 | 2–4 | 5–2 | 6–1 | 3–3 | — | 2–4 | 5–2 | 6–0 | 6–0 | 4–2 | 5–1 |
| New York | 2–4 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 6–0 | 5–2 | 6–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | — | 5–2 | 6–0 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 4–2 |
| Philadelphia | 3–3 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 2–5 | 2–5 | — | 4–2 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 0–6 |
| Phoenix | 4–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 0–6 | 0–6 | 2–4 | — | 7–0 | 3–3 | 4–3 |
| San Diego | 2–4 | 0–6 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 0–7 | — | 5–2 | 4–2 |
| San Francisco | 2–5 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 2–5 | — | 3–4 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 4–3 | — |

### Game log

1969–70 game log Total: 56–26 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0; neutral: 0–0) :
October: 6–3 (home: 2–1; road: 4–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1October 18, 1969Detroit
W 119–110
Lew Alcindor (29)
Lew Alcindor (12)
Alcindor, McGlocklin, Rodgers (6)
Milwaukee Arena
1–0
2October 19, 1969Seattle
W 130–106
Flynn Robinson (22)
Zaid Abdul-Aziz (14)
Guy Rodgers (10)
Milwaukee Arena
2–0
3October 22, 1969@ San Diego
W 115–102
Lew Alcindor (36)
Lew Alcindor (19)
Jon McGlocklin (5)
San Diego Arena
3–0
4October 24, 1969@ Los Angeles
L 112–123
Flynn Robinson (33)
Lew Alcindor (20)
Flynn Robinson (7)
The Forum
3–1
5October 25, 1969@ San Francisco
L 104–118
Guy Rodgers (20)
Zaid Abdul-Aziz (11)
John Arthurs (5)
San Francisco Civic Auditorium
3–2
6October 26, 1969@ Phoenix
W 119–99
Lew Alcindor (28)
Alcindor, Smith (12)
Guy Rodgers (15)
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
4–2
7October 28, 1969Boston
L 107–120
Lew Alcindor (43)
Greg Smith (15)
Flynn Robinson (6)
Milwaukee Arena
4–3
8October 30, 1969@ Detroit
W 102–81
Flynn Robinson (25)
Greg Smith (20)
Guy Rodgers (10)
Cobo Arena
5–3
9October 31, 1969@ Philadelphia
W 129–125
McGlocklin, Chapell (28)
Lew Alcindor (18)
Lew Alcindor (9)
The Spectrum
6–3 :
November: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord :
December: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord :
January: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord :
February: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord :
March: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord :
1969–70 schedule :

## Playoffs

1970 playoff game log :
Division semifinals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 25
Philadelphia
W 125–118
Lew Alcindor (36)
Lew Alcindor (20)
Bob Dandridge (6)
University of Wisconsin Field House 9,686
1–0
2
March 27
Philadelphia
L 105–112
Lew Alcindor (33)
Bob Dandridge (12)
Bob Dandridge (7)
University of Wisconsin Field House 9,686
1–1
3
March 30
@ Philadelphia
W 156–120
Lew Alcindor (33)
Lew Alcindor (17)
Flynn Robinson (14)
Spectrum 15,244
2–1
4
April 1
@ Philadelphia
W 118–111
Lew Alcindor (33)
Greg Smith (19)
Bob Dandridge (7)
Spectrum 14,206
3–1
5
April 3
Philadelphia
W 115–106
Lew Alcindor (46)
Lew Alcindor (25)
Bob Dandridge (8)
University of Wisconsin Field House 12,868
4–1 :
Division finals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 11
@ New York
L 102–110
Lew Alcindor (35)
Lew Alcindor (15)
Lew Alcindor (5)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
0–1
2
April 13
@ New York
L 111–112
Lew Alcindor (38)
Lew Alcindor (23)
Lew Alcindor (11)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
0–2
3
April 17
New York
W 101–96
Lew Alcindor (33)
Lew Alcindor (31)
Bob Dandridge (8)
Milwaukee Arena 10,746
1–2
4
April 19
New York
L 105–117
Lew Alcindor (38)
Alcindor, Smith (9)
Flynn Robinson (7)
Milwaukee Arena 10,746
1–3
5
April 20
@ New York
L 96–132
Lew Alcindor (27)
Zaid Abdul-Aziz (12)
Guy Rodgers (6)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
1–4 :
1970 schedule :

## Player statistics
### Season

| Player | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PF | PPG |
| Zaid Abdul-Aziz | 80 | 20.5 | 43.4 | 64.3 | 7.5 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 7.4 |
| Lew Alcindor | 82 | 43.1 | 51.8 | 65.3 | 14.5 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 28.8 |
| John Arthurs | 11 | | | | | | | 3.2 |
| Len Chappell | 75 | | | | | | | 8.3 |
| Freddie Crawford | 77 | | | | | | | 7.6 |
| Dick Cunningham | 60 | | | | | | | 2.1 |
| Bob Dandridge | 81 | | | | | | | 3.2 |
| Bob Greacen | 41 | | | | | | | 2.6 |
| Jon McGlocklin | 82 | | | | | | | 17.6 |
| Flynn Robinson | 81 | | | | | | | 21.8 |
| Guy Rodgers | 64 | | | | | | | 3.2 |
| Greg Smith | 82 | | | | | | | 9.8 |
| Sam Williams | 11 | | | | | | | 2.5 |

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | PPG |
| Zaid Abdul-Aziz | 10 | 4.3 |
| Lew Alcindor | 10 | 35.2 |
| Len Chappell | 9 | 7.7 |
| Freddie Crawford | 10 | 8.8 |
| Dick Cunningham | 8 | 2.6 |
| Bob Dandridge | 10 | 16.3 |
| Bob Greacen | 1 | 2.0 |
| Jon McGlocklin | 10 | 14.9 |
| Flynn Robinson | 10 | 12.8 |
| Guy Rodgers | 7 | 2.4 |
| Greg Smith | 10 | 10.7 |
| Sam Williams | 2 | 4.0 |

## Awards and honors

* Lew Alcindor, NBA Rookie of the Year
* Lew Alcindor, NBA All-Rookie Team
* Lew Alcindor, NBA All-Star Game Appearance