The 1970 NBA World Championship Series was the

championship series In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

of the 1970 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the 1969–70

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) season. The Eastern Division champion

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

defeated the Western Division champion

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in a best-of-seven series 4 games to 3 for their first NBA title. The Knicks appeared to have a see-saw Game 3 won when

Dave DeBusschere David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player and coach and Major League Baseball (MLB) player. He played for the Chicago White Sox of MLB in 1962 and 1963 a ...

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 Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability ...

, 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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in 2010 as the greatest Game 7 in finals history, featuring a return from injury for

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (born June 25, 1942) is an American retired basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memo ...

. Reed's most famous performance took place on May 8, 1970 in Game 7 played at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. 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 Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...

, 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 Howard is an English language, English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (disambiguation), Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defe ...

told Reed on national television, "You exemplify the very best that the human spirit can offer."

Background

New York Knicks

Los Angeles Lakers

Series summary

''Knicks win series 4–3'' Source:

Game summaries

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

hit a desperation buzzer-beating 60-foot shot to tie it at 102 and force OT.

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Game 7

Television

The 1970 NBA Finals were the first to be nationally televised in full, with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

providing the coverage.

Chris Schenkel Christopher Eugene Schenkel (August 21, 1923 – September 11, 2005) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and bar ...

was the play-by-play man, with

Jack Twyman John Kennedy Twyman (May 21, 1934 – May 30, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and sports broadcaster. Twyman is a namesake of the NBA's Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. Twyman was inducted into the Naismith Basketb ...

serving as the color analyst. 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 WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...

, 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 The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provider ...

in New York City, which was then only available in about 25,000 cable households in Manhattan.

Player statistics

;New York Knicks , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , , , 37.7 , , .484 , , , , .588 , , 10.5 , , 2.8 , , , , , , 23.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 38.1 , , .455 , , , , .722 , , 12.6 , , 2.6 , , , , , , 19.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 40.6 , , .448 , , , , .897 , , 2.3 , , 4.3 , , , , , , 18.6 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 43.1 , , .541 , , , , .775 , , 7.7 , , 10.4 , , , , , , 17.6 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 35.6 , , .388 , , , , .750 , , 4.0 , , 2.7 , , , , , , 12.1 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 18.6 , , .492 , , , , 1.000 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , , , , , 9.3 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 14.0 , , .447 , , , , 1.000 , , 4.7 , , 1.6 , , , , , , 7.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 13.0 , , .387 , , , , .857 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , , , , , 4.3 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 9.7 , , .481 , , , , .600 , , 3.0 , , 0.3 , , , , , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , Bill Hosket , , 2 , , , , 4.5 , , .250 , , , , , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , , , , , 1.0 , - , align="left" ,

John Warren John Warren may refer to: Medicine * John Warren (surgeon) (1753–1815), American surgeon during the Revolutionary War * John Collins Warren (1778–1856), American surgeon * John Collins Warren Jr. (1842–1927), American surgeon, son of John C ...

, , 4 , , , , 1.5 , , 1.000 , , , , , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , , , , , 0.5 ;Los Angeles Lakers , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 47.9 , , .450 , , , , .833 , , 3.4 , , 7.7 , , , , , , 31.3 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 47.6 , , .625 , , , , .343 , , 24.1 , , 4.0 , , , , , , 23.3 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 40.0 , , .486 , , , , .778 , , 11.3 , , 4.7 , , , , , , 17.9 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 36.7 , , .474 , , , , .944 , , 3.0 , , 2.1 , , , , , , 13.0 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 38.7 , , .479 , , , , .722 , , 4.4 , , 4.7 , , , , , , 11.6 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , , , 17.5 , , .471 , , , , .636 , , 4.3 , , 1.5 , , , , , , 6.5 , - , align="left" , , , 7 , , , , 10.3 , , .526 , , , , 1.000 , , 0.1 , , 0.9 , , , , , , 3.6 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , , , 9.3 , , .333 , , , , .800 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , , , , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , , , 9.0 , , .357 , , , , .667 , , 2.7 , , 0.3 , , , , , , 4.0 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , , , 3.3 , , .500 , , , , .500 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , , , , , 2.3 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , , , 1.0 , , , , , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , , , , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , , , 2.0 , , .000 , , , , , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , , , , , 0.0 Source:

Team rosters

New York Knicks

Los Angeles Lakers

References

External links

New York Times (April 25, 1970) Game 1: "Knicks Conquer Lakers, 124‐112, in First Game of N.B.A. Final at Garden"
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/02/archives/lakers-overcome-knicks-121115-in-overtime-and-tie-final-series-at.html New York Times (May 2, 1970) Game 4: "Lakers Overcome Knicks, 121‐115, in Overtime and Tie Final Series at 2‐2"]
New York Times (May 5, 1970) Game 5: "Their Big Man Out Early With an Injury, the Knicks Fight Back to Overcome Big Deficit"
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/09/archives/knicks-take-first-title-beating-lakers-113-to-99-frazier-scores-36.html New York Times (May 9, 1970) Game 7: "Knicks Take First Title, Beating Lakers, 113 to 99"] {{DEFAULTSORT:1970 Nba Finals National Basketball Association Finals 1969–70 NBA season, Finals New York Knicks games, NBA Los Angeles Lakers games, NBA 1970 in sports in New York City, NBA Finals

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

Sports competitions in New York City Sports competitions in Inglewood, California

1970s in Los Angeles County, California