# 1970–71 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1970–71 NBA season was the Lakers' 23rd season in the NBA and 11th season in Los Angeles.
The Lakers, handicapped by the loss of star Jerry West to a season-ending injury with 13 games remaining in the regular season, would be eliminated by the eventual champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, in five games in the Western Conference finals.
The team's season roster is featured in the video games NBA 2K16, NBA 2K17, and NBA 2K18.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Pacific Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Los Angeles Lakers | 48 | 34 | .585 | – | 30–11 | 17–22 | 1–1 | 15–7 |
| x-San Francisco Warriors | 41 | 41 | .500 | 7 | 20–18 | 19–21 | 2–2 | 12–10 |
| San Diego Rockets | 40 | 42 | .488 | 8 | 24–15 | 15–26 | 1–1 | 14–8 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 38 | 44 | .463 | 10 | 27–13 | 11–30 | 0–1 | 10–14 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 29 | 53 | .354 | 19 | 18–21 | 9–26 | 2–6 | 3–15 |
| # | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 1 | z-Milwaukee Bucks | 66 | 16 | .805 |
| 2 | y-Los Angeles Lakers | 48 | 34 | .585 |
| 3 | x-Chicago Bulls | 51 | 31 | .622 |
| 4 | x-San Francisco Warriors | 41 | 41 | .500 |
| 5 | Phoenix Suns | 48 | 34 | .585 |
| 6 | Detroit Pistons | 45 | 37 | .549 |
| 7 | San Diego Rockets | 40 | 42 | .488 |
| 8 | Seattle SuperSonics | 38 | 44 | .463 |
| 9 | Portland Trail Blazers | 29 | 53 | .354 |
    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 Semi-finals: 4–3 (home: 4–0; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 24
Chicago
W 100–99
Jim McMillian (26)
Wilt Chamberlain (21)
Gail Goodrich (11)
The Forum 10,726
1–0
2
March 26
Chicago
W 105–95
Gail Goodrich (29)
Wilt Chamberlain (20)
Gail Goodrich (7)
The Forum 13,469
2–0
3
March 28
@ Chicago
L 98–106
Gail Goodrich (39)
Wilt Chamberlain (18)
Goodrich, Chamberlain (6)
Chicago Stadium 10,101
2–1
4
March 30
@ Chicago
L 102–112
Gail Goodrich (32)
Wilt Chamberlain (23)
Wilt Chamberlain (7)
Chicago Stadium 18,650
2–2
5
April 1
Chicago
W 115–89
Gail Goodrich (33)
Wilt Chamberlain (14)
Gail Goodrich (11)
The Forum 13,935
3–2
6
April 4
@ Chicago
L 99–113
Gail Goodrich (25)
Wilt Chamberlain (33)
Wilt Chamberlain (9)
Chicago Stadium 14,211
3–3
7
April 6
Chicago
W 109–98
Gail Goodrich (29)
Wilt Chamberlain (19)
Goodrich, Chamberlain (9)
The Forum 17,505
4–3 :
Conference finals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 9
@ Milwaukee
L 85–106
Wilt Chamberlain (22)
Wilt Chamberlain (20)
Gail Goodrich (7)
Milwaukee Arena 10,746
0–1
2
April 11
@ Milwaukee
L 73–91
Wilt Chamberlain (26)
Wilt Chamberlain (22)
Gail Goodrich (4)
Milwaukee Arena 10,746
0–2
3
April 14
Milwaukee
W 118–107
four players tied (24)
Wilt Chamberlain (24)
Gail Goodrich (8)
The Forum 17,334
1–2
4
April 16
Milwaukee
L 94–117
Gail Goodrich (26)
Wilt Chamberlain (16)
Gail Goodrich (11)
The Forum 17,505
1–3
5
April 18
@ Milwaukee
L 98–116
Happy Hairston (27)
Wilt Chamberlain (12)
Gail Goodrich (9)
Milwaukee Arena 10,746
1–4 :
1971 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Jerry West, All-NBA First Team
* Jerry West, NBA All-Defensive First Team
* Jerry West, NBA All-Star Game
* Wilt Chamberlain, NBA All-Star Game