# 1970 NBA Finals

The 1970 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1970 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the 1969–70 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The Eastern Division champion New York Knicks defeated the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games for their first NBA title.
The Knicks appeared to have a see-saw Game 3 won when Dave DeBusschere made a shot with three seconds left to give New York a 102–100 edge and the Lakers were stuck with no time outs. L.A. inbounded to Mr. Clutch, Jerry West, who launched and made a miracle shot from beyond midcourt. It counted only for two points, as only the ABA had a three-point shot at the time, so the game went to overtime, and the Knicks were able to win, 111–108.
The final game of the series was named by ESPN in 2010 as the greatest Game 7 in finals history, featuring a return from injury for Willis Reed. Reed's most famous performance took place on May 8, 1970, in Game 7 played at Madison Square Garden. Due to a severe thigh injury suffered in Game 5, a torn muscle that kept him out of Game 6, he was considered unlikely to play in Game 7. Yet Reed surprised the fans by walking onto the court during warmups, prompting widespread applause. Starting the game, he scored the Knicks' first two field goals on his first two shot attempts, his only points of the game. He then played defense on Wilt Chamberlain, limiting him to two shots made in nine attempts. When Reed left for good with 3:05 left in the first half, the Knicks led 61–37. Walt "Clyde" Frazier took it from there, finishing with 36 points and 19 assists as the Knicks won the championship, 113–99. Following the game in the winner's locker room, a moved Howard Cosell told Reed on national television, "You exemplify the very best that the human spirit can offer." ESPN's SportsCentury Top 10 Games of the 20th Century ranked Game 7 the 9th Greatest Game in 1999.

## Series summary

| Game | Date | Road team | Result | Home team |
| Game 1 | April 24 | Los Angeles Lakers | 112-124 (0–1) | New York Knicks |
| Game 2 | April 27 | Los Angeles Lakers | 105–103 (1–1) | New York Knicks |
| Game 3 | April 29 | New York Knicks | 112–108 (OT) (2–1) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 4 | May 1 | New York Knicks | 115–121 (OT) (2–2) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 5 | May 4 | Los Angeles Lakers | 100–107 (2–3) | New York Knicks |
| Game 6 | May 6 | New York Knicks | 113–135 (3–3) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 7 | May 8 | Los Angeles Lakers | 99–113 (3–4) | New York Knicks |
Knicks win series 4–3
Source:

## Game summaries
### Game 1

* April 24
* Boxscore
Los Angeles Lakers 112, New York Knicks 124 :
| Scoring by quarter: 25–35, 29–30, 38–24, 20–35 |||
| Pts: Jerry West 33 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 24 Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 5 | Pts: Willis Reed 37 Rebs: Reed, DeBusschere 16 each Asts: Dick Barnett 9 |
| New York leads series, 1–0 |||
* Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 19,500

### Game 2

* April 27
* Boxscore
Los Angeles Lakers 105, New York Knicks 103 :
| Scoring by quarter: 28–24, 24–28, 29–29, 24–22 |||
| Pts: Jerry West 34 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 24 Asts: Garrett, Erickson 6 each | Pts: Willis Reed 29 Rebs: Willis Reed 15 Asts: Walt Frazier 11 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 19,500

### Game 3

* April 29
* Boxscore
New York Knicks 111, Los Angeles Lakers 108 (OT) :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–26, 22–30, 26–17, 34–29, Overtime: 9–6 |||
| Pts: Willis Reed 38 Rebs: Willis Reed 17 Asts: Walt Frazier 7 | Pts: Jerry West 34 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 26 Asts: Elgin Baylor 11 |
| New York leads series, 2–1 |||
* The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,509
* Jerry West hit a desperation buzzer-beating 60-foot shot to tie it at 102 and force OT. If a three-point line had existed at the time, it would've won the game for the Lakers and potentially the Finals, likely going to down as the greatest shot in NBA history.

### Game 4

* May 1
* Boxscore
New York Knicks 115, Los Angeles Lakers 121 (OT) :
| Scoring by quarter: 27–24, 20–30, 20–17, 32–28, Overtime: 16–22 |||
| Pts: Dick Barnett 29 Rebs: Dave Stallworth 13 Asts: Walt Frazier 11 | Pts: Jerry West 37 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 25 Asts: Jerry West 18 |
| Series tied, 2–2 |||
* The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,509

### Game 5

* May 4
* Boxscore
Los Angeles Lakers 100, New York Knicks 107 :
| Scoring by quarter: 30–20, 23–20, 29–35, 18–32 |||
| Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 22 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 19 Asts: Keith Erickson 6 | Pts: Walt Frazier 21 Rebs: Cazzie Russell 8 Asts: Walt Frazier 12 |
| New York leads series, 3–2 |||
* Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 19,500

### Game 6

* May 6
* Boxscore
New York Knicks 113, Los Angeles Lakers 135 :
| Scoring by quarter: 16–36, 35–35, 29–28, 33–36 |||
| Pts: Dave DeBusschere 25 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 9 Asts: Dick Barnett 8 | Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 45 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 27 Asts: Jerry West 13 |
| Series tied, 3–3 |||
* The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,509

### Game 7

* May 8
* Boxscore
Los Angeles Lakers 99, New York Knicks 113 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–38, 18–31, 27–25, 30–19 |||
| Pts: Jerry West 28 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 24 Asts: Keith Erickson 6 | Pts: Walt Frazier 36 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 17 Asts: Walt Frazier 19 |
| New York wins series, 4–3 |||
* Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 19,500 Referees:
* No. 5 Mendy Rudolph
* No. 26 Richie Powers

## Television

The 1970 NBA Finals were the first to be nationally televised in full, with ABC providing the coverage. Chris Schenkel was the play-by-play man, with Jack Twyman serving as the color analyst. Howard Cosell provided interviews from the Knicks' locker room following Game 7 and was famously doused with champagne.
However, the Knicks' victory in Game 7 was not seen live on broadcast TV in New York; ABC's coverage was blacked out on WABC-TV, causing a raft of angry fans to deluge the WABC switchboard. Schenkel made an announcement during the broadcast that the game would be aired in New York at 11:30 p.m. that night. The game was shown live on the premium-channel MSG Network in New York City, which was then only available in about 25,000 cable households in Manhattan.
Since the 1970 finals, every NBA Finals game has been carried across the United States, though local blackouts would take some time to subside.

## Player statistics
### New York Knicks

New York Knicks statistics :
| Player | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
| Willis Reed | 6 | 37.7 | .484 | .588 | 10.5 | 2.8 | 23.0 |
| Dave DeBusschere | 7 | 38.1 | .455 | .722 | 12.6 | 2.6 | 19.0 |
| Dick Barnett | 7 | 40.6 | .448 | .897 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 18.6 |
| Walt Frazier | 7 | 43.1 | .541 | .775 | 7.7 | 10.4 | 17.6 |
| Bill Bradley | 7 | 35.6 | .388 | .750 | 4.0 | 2.7 | 12.1 |
| Cazzie Russell | 7 | 18.6 | .492 | 1.000 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 9.3 |
| Dave Stallworth | 7 | 14.0 | .447 | 1.000 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 7.0 |
| Mike Riordan | 7 | 13.0 | .387 | .857 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 4.3 |
| Nate Bowman | 7 | 9.7 | .481 | .600 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 4.1 |
| Bill Hosket | 2 | 4.5 | .250 | | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| John Warren | 4 | 1.5 | 1.000 | | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 |

### Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers statistics :
| Player | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
| Jerry West | 7 | 47.9 | .450 | .833 | 3.4 | 7.7 | 31.3 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 7 | 47.6 | .625 | .343 | 24.1 | 4.0 | 23.3 |
| Elgin Baylor | 7 | 40.0 | .486 | .778 | 11.3 | 4.7 | 17.9 |
| Dick Garrett | 7 | 36.7 | .474 | .944 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 13.0 |
| Keith Erickson | 7 | 38.7 | .479 | .722 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 11.6 |
| Happy Hairston | 6 | 17.5 | .471 | .636 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 6.5 |
| Johnny Egan | 7 | 10.3 | .526 | 1.000 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 3.6 |
| John Tresvant | 4 | 9.3 | .333 | .800 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| Mel Counts | 3 | 9.0 | .357 | .667 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 4.0 |
| Rick Roberson | 3 | 3.3 | .500 | .500 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| Mike Lynn | 1 | 1.0 | | | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Willie McCarter | 1 | 2.0 | .000 | | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
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