1970 NBA and ABA Division Finals

The 1970 playoffs in both leagues feature competitive series and a few surprises.

Editor’s note: This is a fictional account of this history of the NBA beginning in 1966–67. This narrative was created by playing Fast Break Pro Basketball 3. For an introduction to this dynasty, visit: https://medium.com/historical-sports-gaming/re-writing-nba-history-an-introduction-483db0ebc720

San Diego enters the West Division Finals as heavy underdogs against the two-time champion San Francisco Warriors. All the pressure is on San Francisco, however, as they try to return to the NBA Finals.

West Division Finals: San Diego vs. San Francisco

GAME ONE — At Cow Palace in San Francisco

Starting Lineups: San Diego — Bill Russell, C, Elvin Hayes (PF), Willie Wise (SF), Earl Monroe (SG), Walt Frazier (PG). San Francisco — Nate Thurmond, C, Clyde Lee (PF), Rick Barry (SF), Donnie Freeman (SG), Ron Williams (PG)

Did Not Play: San Diego — George Sutor and Merv Jackson (inactive list) San Francisco — Jeff Mullins (inactive, foot) Mike Riordan (inactive list), Dave Newmark (coach’s decision)

Recap: San Francisco’s playoff experience showed through in Game 1. The Warriors dominated early, with Rick Barry scoring 15 points in the first quarter alone. Early in the second quarter, the Warriors went on a 10–3 ruin to stretch their lead further. The score at halftime was embarrassing for San Diego as they trailed 73–46. The second half featured a lot of chippy play from both sides as the Warriors cruised to a 145–126 win. Barry finished with 42 points and Nate Thurmond scored 35 as the Rockets’ defense was absolutely atrocious.

GAME TWO — At Cow Palace in San Francisco

Starting Lineups: San Diego — Bill Russell, C, Elvin Hayes (PF), Willie Wise (SF), Earl Monroe (SG), Walt Frazier (PG). San Francisco — Nate Thurmond, C, Clyde Lee (PF), Rick Barry (SF), Donnie Freeman (SG), Ron Williams (PG)

Did Not Play: San Diego — George Sutor and Merv Jackson (inactive list), Wali Jones, Jimmy Walker and Jim Caldwell (coach’s decision) San Francisco — Jeff Mullins (inactive, foot) Mike Riordan (inactive list), Keith Swagerty, Eldo Garrett and Dave Newmark (coach’s decision)

Recap: Game 2 started sloppy for both sides, but a late first quarter run by San Francisco gave them a 32–26 lead after one. The second quarter, however, San Diego finally came alive. Bob Verga scored 13 points in the second quarter and with Thurmond in foul trouble for the Warriors, the Rockets went on a run to take a 60–53 halftime lead. San Francisco chipped away in the third quarter with PG Ron Williams scoring 13 points in the third. With no timeouts left in the fourth, the Warriors continued to chip away. Three straight jumpers from Barry cut the Rockets’ lead to 112–111 with 1:09 left. After a Barry foul, Vergas made two free throws to make a two-possession game again. Clyde Lee scored with 47 seconds left for San Fran to cut the lead back to 114–113. The game turned seconds later. The Rockets got the ball quickly down the court to Elvin Hayes. Hayes went up and made a great basket while being fouled by Barry. Hayes made the ensuing free throw for a three-point play and a 117–113 lead, while Barry’s foul took him out of the game. That play ended it, as the Rockets hung on in the final 35 seconds to stun the Warriors.

GAME THREE — At San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego

Starting Lineups: San Francisco — Nate Thurmond, C, Clyde Lee (PF), Rick Barry (SF), Donnie Freeman (SG), Ron Williams (PG). San Diego — Bill Russell, C, Elvin Hayes (PF), Willie Wise (SF), Earl Monroe (SG), Walt Frazier (PG)

Did Not Play: San Francisco — Jeff Mullins (inactive, foot) Mike Riordan (inactive list), Keith Swagerty, Luke Rackley and Dave Newmark (coach’s decision). San Diego — George Sutor and Merv Jackson (inactive list), George Peeples and Jim Caldwell (coach’s decision)

Recap: Game 3 appeared to be Barry vs. the Rockets himself. The first quarter ended tied at 28, with Barry scoring 17 of the Warriors’ 28 points. In the second quarter, Barry started fouling and the Rockets pulled away. Clyde Lee was assigned to defend Elvin Hayes and Hayes dominated, scoring 27 points in the first half alone. An 2–4 Rocket run in the second gave them a 69–47 lead at halftime. Barry got himself in foul trouble in the third quarter, ending any hope of a San Francisco comeback. The Warriors never got closer than within 14 points as the Rockets dominated in all facets. San Diego won, 119–97, with Hayes leading the way with 41 points and 16 rebounds.

GAME FOUR — At San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego

Starting Lineups: San Francisco — Nate Thurmond, C, Clyde Lee (PF), Rick Barry (SF), Donnie Freeman (SG), Ron Williams (PG). San Diego — Bill Russell, C, Elvin Hayes (PF), Willie Wise (SF), Earl Monroe (SG), Walt Frazier (PG)

Did Not Play: San Francisco — Jeff Mullins (inactive, foot) Mike Riordan (inactive list), Luke Rackley and Dave Newmark (coach’s decision). San Diego — George Sutor and Merv Jackson (inactive list), Jim Caldwell (coach’s decision)

Recap: The Warriors played with urgency in game 4 and it showed. Thurmond had nine rebounds in the first quarter alone and he and Barry each scored nine points in the opening period. In the second quarter, Hayes got into foul trouble and Bill Russell appeared overmatched against Thurmond. The Wariors built a double-digit lead to go into the half up 61–45. The Rockets chipped away at the lead, pulling as close as eight points. In the fourth, however, with Hayes in foul trouble, the Warriors finished off San Diego with a 16–4 run early. Thurmond would finish with 29 points, 19 boards and six assists in a dominating performance. San Fran ties the series with a 130–101 win.

GAME FIVE — At The Cow Palace in San Francisco

Starting Lineups: San Diego — Bill Russell, C, Elvin Hayes (PF), Willie Wise (SF), Earl Monroe (SG), Walt Frazier (PG). San Francisco — Nate Thurmond, C, Clyde Lee (PF), Rick Barry (SF), Donnie Freeman (SG), Jeff Mullins (PG)

Did Not Play: San Diego — George Sutor and Merv Jackson (inactive list), Gary Keller, George Peeples and Jim Caldwell (coach’s decision) San Francisco — Ron Williams (inactive, ankle) Mike Riordan (inactive list), Keith Swagerty, Skeeter Swift, Eldo Garrett and Dave Newmark (coach’s decision)

Recap: In a pivotal Game 5, the Warriors got Jeff Mullins back from IR and he gave them an additional scoring threat. The Warriors dominated early thanks to Mullins and 26 points from Barry, but the Rockets got San Fran’s lead down to 66–60 at halftime. San Francisco led by as muh as 19 in the first half, that lead disappeared thanks to a 22–6 Rocket run in the third quarter. Hayes took over as Thurmond and Lee found themselves in foul trouble. In the fourth quarter, the game swung back and forth as the Warriors and Rockets exchanged the lead six times. Barry, trying to do it all himself, tired out late. The Rockets built a 120–115 lead with 2:02 left, forcing San Francisco to foul late despite having Thurmond and Lee both with five fouls. Hayes would finish with 43 points and 15 boards and Russell played much better as the Rockets finished off the Warriors, 130–121, stunning the Cow Palace crowd.

GAME SIX— At San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego

Starting Lineups: San Francisco — Nate Thurmond, C, Clyde Lee (PF), Rick Barry (SF), Donnie Freeman (SG), Jeff Mullins (PG) San Diego — Bill Russell, C, Elvin Hayes (PF), Willie Wise (SF), Earl Monroe (SG), Walt Frazier (PG).

Did Not Play: San Francisco — Ron Williams (inactive, ankle) Mike Riordan (inactive list), Luke Rackley and Dave Newmark (coach’s decision). San Diego — George Sutor and Merv Jackson (inactive list), Gary Keller, George Peeples, Jimmy Walker and Jim Caldwell (coach’s decision)

Recap: San Diego’s small but loud crowd anticipated a shocking upset in Game 6 and things looked good early. Elvin Hayes played the half of his life in the first 24 minutes, scoring 32 points as the Rockets led, 67–52 at halftime. The Warriors wouldn’t go down easily. Mullins got them back into the game, shooting 20-of-32 from the field for 40 points. The Warriors would pull within 10 points with about seven minutes left in the game and finally tied it with Mullins’ 40th point with 2:02 left. At 106–106, the Rockets got the ball to Hayes on their next possession, who drove to the hoop for a layup in his 50th point of the game to give San Diego a 108–106 lead. The Warriors couldn't tie it on their next two possessions. With 1:12 left, the normally poor shooting Russell hit two huge free throws to give San Diego a 110–106 lead. The Warriors couldn’t get within one possession again. The Rockets would win, 116–110 and end the Warriors reign atop the NBA. The Rockets pull off the huge upset and win the West Division!

Rockets’ Injuries: None once again.

My Reaction: I really didn’t expect San Diego to win that series, even with players like Bill Russell and Bob Verga in the fold. Willie Wise struggled defending Rick Barry as expected and Russell had his struggled with Nate Thurmond at times. In the end, however, Elvin Hayes had his best six-game stretch of his career. The Warriors also are no longer as good as the team that won the Finals last year. The team got in foul trouble in multiple games and if Thurmond was a bit more disciplined, the series could have turned.

No NBA expansion team (up to this point) has won a title in just their third season and now, the Rockets have a chance to make history. The strategy in the finals is to continue to go with a tight, eight-man rotation on the bench when possible and to also change the pace up from game-to-game. A key to the West Finals win was I changed up the offensive pace from game-to-game to try and swing the momentum back to San Diego at key times. It seemed to work better than the typical blitzkrieg offense the Rockets ran throughout the regular season, so expect to see some lower scoring games in the Finals.

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP

East Division Finals

Detroit vs. Cincinnati in the East Finals was everything a basketball fan could want and more. In Game 1, the Pistons trailed most of the way, but kept the game close. However, the Royals’ John Beasley was too much to handle, scoring 33 points and grabbing 15 boards for a 137–129 Cincinnati win. In Game 2, the Royals led by 19 at the half, but ended up blowing the lead. The Pistons stormed back with Mel Daniels scoring 37 points to lead the way. Cincy Powell gave the Pistons the lead with a jumper with 1:22 left and the Pistons hung on for a stunning, 112–109 win.Game 3 back in Cobo Arena saw Daniels dominated for the Pistons. Daniels finished with 42 points and a whopping 25 rebounds as Detroit cruised, 127–120. Down 2–1 in the series, the Royals came out firing in Game 4. Happy Hairston led the team with 34 points and a big third quarter allowed the Royals to embarrass Detroit, 131–110. Cincinnati again lost its momentum in Game 5 at home, however. The Pistons came from behind in the fourth quarter again and Daniels scored 45 points and snagged 22 rebounds for a 131–121 Pistons win. Facing elimination in Game 6, the Royals trailed by 10 at the half and looked to be dead. Using a deeper rotation in the second half, however, Cincinnati came from behind. Flynn Robinson hit two key shots late and the Royals grabbed the lead with about two minutes remaining and hung on for a stunning 135–132 win on the road. The stunning loss would sink the defending East champion Pistons. Game 7 back in Cincy was no contest. The Pistons’ shooting was horrendous and no one scored more than 15 points. The Royals dominated, 122–91, and are back in the NBA Finals.

West Division Finals

San Diego upsets San Francisco in six games.

NBA Finals Preview

Cincinnati doesn’t have any true superstars, but they finished with the NBA’s best record in 1969–70 because of how deep they are, the Royals top-10 players are all capable of starting for other teams. By contrast, San Diego is a team built upon outstanding offensive playmakers and, in the playoffs at least, is dependent on Elvin Hayes scoring 30-plus points a game. Hayes will likely need to take over games for the Rockets to win. The Royals are the best defensive team in the NBA and commit the fewest fouls, so hoping Cincinnati will beat itself isn’t a good plan for San Diego. However, the Rockets did beat Cincinnati convincingly at home in mid-March, so anything can happen.

NBA 1970 Playoff Leaders

Points — 35.6 — Elvin Hayes, San Diego

Rebounds — 13.8 — Elvin Hayes, San Diego

Assists — 8.2— Dave Bing, Chicago

Steals — 3.4 — John Beasley, Cincinnati

Blocks — 6.1 — Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia

ABA PLAYOFFS RECAP

East Division Finals

Down 3–0 in the series, the Colonels were hungry for a win over the Cinderella №4 seed Pipers in Game 4 in Pittsburgh. Kentucky led by two entering the fourth quarter, but the Pipers stormed back. Freddie Lewis led the way with 37 points and Pittsburgh took the lead for good with about five minutes left en route to a 98–92 win. Pittsburgh sweeps Kentucky and shocks everyone by taking the East title!

West Division Finals

Up 2–1 over Washington, the heavily favored New Orleans Buccaneers were in control most of the way in Game 4. Lavern Tart scored 29 points and tallied five steals as the Bucs won, 100–90, to head back home with a 3–1 series lead. In Game 5 at the packed Tulane Gym, the Capitals led by 11 at the half of a low-scoring game. New Orleans stormed back, however, tying the game late in the third quarter. The Capitals re-took the lead early in the fourth, but foul trouble and a couple of clutch three-pointers from Jesse Branson allowed the Bucs to re-take the lead with a little more than two minutes left. New Orleans hung on for a 92–88 win and advance to their first ABA Finals.

ABA Finals

The Buccaneers were the ABA’s best team all season, but nothing was a given against the Cinderella Pipers. In Game 1 at Tulane Gym, the Pipers shot the lights out. Freddie Lewis scored 37 and Don Kojis 27 as Pittsburgh stunned New Orleans, 107–99. Game 2 was more of the same. Lewis and Kojis were unstoppable and Pittsburgh led most of the way. The Pipers won, 103–95, and took a 2–0 lead back to Pittsburgh. In Game 3 at Civic Arena, the Buccaneers dominated. Lavern Tart was outstanding, shooting 10-of-15 from the field for 32 points and the Bucs won, 110–104. The road team has won every game so far with Game 4 in Pittsburgh coming up.

ABA 1970 Playoff Leaders

Points — 27.8—Larry Jones, Denver

Rebounds —10.0—Austin Robbins, Kentucky

Assists —8.9—Bill Melchionni, Washington

Steals —3.9 — Freddie Lewis, Pittsburgh

Blocks — 2.3 — Kendall Rhine, Denver

Historical Sports Gamer

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I’m re-writing the history of sports through text-sim games such as Out of the Park Baseball, Franchise Hockey Manager and Front Office Football

Historical Sports Gaming

This website is dedicated to using PC sports games to recreate the history of numerous North American professional sports leagues.

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