|
Lakers–Suns Rivalry
The Lakers–Suns rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns. The rivalry began as early as the 1969–70 season when the Lakers and Suns met against each other in the first round of the 1970 NBA playoffs, with peaks being had throughout the 1980s, early 1990s, and 2000s. While the Lakers won every playoff series from their 3–1 series comeback in 1970 until 1989, the Suns have won the vast majority of playoff series matchups since 1990, winning 5 of the last 7 playoffs series since then, including a reverse series sweep against the Lakers in 1993 and a 3–1 comeback of their own in 2006. While the rivalry cooled off during the 2010s due to poor teams and management by both squads throughout that decade, renewed interest in the rivalry sparked into the 2020s, with both teams returning to NBA Finals contention early in the decade, as well as both the Lakers and Suns having notable superstars joining them in LeBr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1970 NBA Playoffs
The 1970 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1969–70 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks defeating the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Willis Reed was named NBA Finals MVP. It was the first NBA title for the Knicks in franchise history, and was their first appearance in the finals since losing their third straight finals in 1953 to the Lakers while they were still in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For the Lakers, it was their third straight Western Division title and second straight year they lost in Game 7 of the NBA finals. The Lakers dropped their eighth straight NBA finals series (the previous 7 to the Boston Celtics) and were denied their first NBA title since 1954. It was also the playoff debut of both the second-year Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, with the former managing a first-round defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers. Boston missed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |