# 1970–71 New York Knicks season

The 1970–71 New York Knicks season was the 25th season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). New York entered the season as the defending NBA champions, having defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1970 NBA Finals in seven games to win the first championship in franchise history. In the 1970–71 regular season, the Knicks finished in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 52–30 record, and qualified for the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
New York began its NBA title defense with a 4–1 series victory over the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 1971 NBA Playoffs. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Baltimore Bullets defeated the Knicks in seven games, ending the team's chances for a repeat championship.

## Draft picks

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 17 | Mike Price | G | United States | Illinois |
| 2 | 34 | Howie Wright | G | United States | Austin Peay |
| 8 | 136 | Greg Fillmore | C | United States | Cheyney State) |

## 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: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 25
Atlanta
W 112–101
Bill Bradley (25)
Willis Reed (22)
Bill Bradley (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
1–0
2
March 27
Atlanta
L 104–113
Walt Frazier (29)
Dave DeBusschere (15)
Bill Bradley (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
1–1
3
March 28
@ Atlanta
W 110–95
Willis Reed (26)
Dave DeBusschere (17)
Walt Frazier (9)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 7,192
2–1
4
March 30
@ Atlanta
W 113–107
Walt Frazier (26)
Dave DeBusschere (13)
Walt Frazier (8)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 7,192
3–1
5
April 1
Atlanta
W 111–107
Dave DeBusschere (29)
Dave DeBusschere (22)
Willis Reed (5)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
4–1 :
Conference finals: 3–4 (home: 3–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 6
Baltimore
W 112–111
Walt Frazier (24)
Dave DeBusschere (17)
Walt Frazier (7)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
1–0
2
April 9
Baltimore
W 107–88
Dick Barnett (14)
Dave DeBusschere (14)
Walt Frazier (5)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
2–0
3
April 11
@ Baltimore
L 88–114
Walt Frazier (17)
Willis Reed (10)
Barnett, Bradley (5)
Baltimore Civic Center 8,083
2–1
4
April 14
@ Baltimore
L 80–101
Walt Frazier (16)
Dave DeBusschere (9)
Walt Frazier (5)
Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
2–2
5
April 16
Baltimore
W 89–84
Walt Frazier (28)
Dave DeBusschere (17)
Bill Bradley (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
3–2
6
April 18
@ Baltimore
L 96–113
Dave DeBusschere (24)
Dave DeBusschere (10)
Dick Barnett (5)
Baltimore Civic Center 11,211
3–3
7
April 19
Baltimore
L 91–93
Dick Barnett (26)
Willis Reed (12)
Walt Frazier (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,500
3–4 :
1971 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Willis Reed, All-NBA Second Team
* Walt Frazier, All-NBA Second Team
* Dave DeBusschere, NBA All-Defensive First Team
* Walt Frazier, NBA All-Defensive First Team