# 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.

## Draft picks

The Baltimore Bullets made seventeen selections in the 1970 NBA Draft.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | College/Club team |
| 1 | 9 | George E. Johnson | United States | Stephen F. Austin |
| 3 | 49 | Seaburn Hill | United States | Arizona State |
| 4 | 54 | Bill Stricker | United States | Pacific |
| 4 | 66 | Billy Jones | United States | Louisiana College |
| 5 | 83 | Gary Zeller | United States | Drake |
| 6 | 100 | Marvin Polnick | United States | Stephen F. Austin |
| 7 | 117 | Charlie Wallace | United States | Oklahoma City |
| 8 | 134 | Tom Dyksera | United States | Wheaton (IL) |
| 9 | 151 | Will Hetzel | United States | Maryland |
| 10 | 168 | Ron Becker | United States | New Mexico Lobos |
| 11 | 183 | Mel Bell | United States | Houston |
| 12 | 193 | Ben McGilmer | United States | Iowa |
| 13 | 203 | Dan Debardabi | United States | Northern Arizona |
| 14 | 213 | Mike Williams | United States | Northern Arizona |
| 15 | 222 | Ted Rose | United States | Northern Michigan |
| 16 | 229 | Don Rather | United States | Northern Arizona |
| 17 | 233 | Vince Fritz | United States | Oregon State |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Central Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Baltimore Bullets | 42 | 40 | .512 | – | 24–13 | 16–25 | 2–2 | 10–6 |
| x-Atlanta Hawks | 36 | 46 | .439 | 6 | 21–20 | 14–26 | 1–0 | 9–7 |
| Cincinnati Royals | 33 | 49 | .402 | 9 | 17–16 | 11–28 | 5–5 | 16–6 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 15 | 67 | .183 | 27 | 11–30 | 2–37 | 2–0 | 1–13 |
| # | 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 |

### 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

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.
1971 playoff game log :
Conference semifinals: 4–3 (home: 2–2; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 24
Philadelphia
L 112–126
Loughery, Gus Johnson (19)
Wes Unseld (20)
Kevin Loughery (4)
Baltimore Civic Center 6,707
0–1
2
March 26
@ Philadelphia
W 119–107
Marin, Monroe (24)
Wes Unseld (18)
Earl Monroe (6)
Spectrum 10,369
1–1
3
March 28
Philadelphia
W 111–103
Earl Monroe (29)
Wes Unseld (24)
Kevin Loughery (7)
Baltimore Civic Center 5,589
2–1
4
March 30
@ Philadelphia
W 120–105
Jack Marin (27)
Gus Johnson (14)
Earl Monroe (6)
Spectrum 8,909
3–1
5
April 1
Philadelphia
L 103–104
Earl Monroe (26)
Wes Unseld (18)
Kevin Loughery (5)
Baltimore Civic Center 10,998
3–2
6
April 3
@ Philadelphia
L 94–98
Earl Monroe (30)
Wes Unseld (18)
Kevin Loughery (5)
Spectrum 7,059
3–3
7
April 4
Philadelphia
W 128–120
Jack Marin (33)
Wes Unseld (22)
Gus Johnson (8)
Baltimore Civic Center 6,662
4–3 :
Conference finals: 4–3 (home: 3–0; road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 6
@ New York
L 111–112
Earl Monroe (29)
Wes Unseld (22)
Earl Monroe (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
0–1
2
April 9
@ New York
L 88–107
John Tresvant (20)
Wes Unseld (20)
Kevin Loughery (16)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
0–2
3
April 11
New York
W 114–88
Earl Monroe (31)
Wes Unseld (26)
Wes Unseld (9)
Baltimore Civic Center 8,083
1–2
4
April 14
New York
W 101–80
Jack Marin (27)
John Tresvant (17)
Wes Unseld (6)
Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
2–2
5
April 16
@ New York
L 84–89
Jack Marin (25)
John Tresvant (17)
Wes Unseld (3)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
2–3
6
April 18
New York
W 113–96
Earl Monroe (27)
Wes Unseld (15)
Earl Monroe (7)
Baltimore Civic Center 11,211
3–3
7
April 19
@ New York
W 93–91
Earl Monroe (26)
Wes Unseld (20)
Earl Monroe (6)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
4–3 :
NBA Finals: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 21
@ Milwaukee
L 88–98
Earl Monroe (26)
John Tresvant (14)
Fred Carter (4)
Milwaukee Arena 10,746
0–1
2
April 25
Milwaukee
L 83–102
Jack Marin (22)
Wes Unseld (20)
Earl Monroe (6)
Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
0–2
3
April 28
@ Milwaukee
L 99–107
Jack Marin (21)
Wes Unseld (23)
Wes Unseld (6)
Milwaukee Arena 10,746
0–3
4
April 30
Milwaukee
L 106–118
Fred Carter (28)
Wes Unseld (23)
Wes Unseld (10)
Baltimore Civic Center 11,842
0–4 :
1971 schedule :

## Awards and honors

* Gus Johnson, All-NBA Second Team
* Gus Johnson, NBA All-Defensive First Team