1969–70 Los Angeles Lakers season

1969–70 Los Angeles Lakers season
Division Champions
Head coach	Joe Mullaney
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	46–36 (.561)
Place	Division: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals (Lost 3–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 1969-70 NBA season was the Lakers' 22nd season in the NBA and tenth season in Los Angeles.^[1]

Offseason

After the tumultuous previous two seasons under the fiery head coach Butch Van Breda Kolff, the Lakers replaced him with the low key Joe Mullaney.

Draft picks

Main article: 1969 NBA Draft

1st round, 12th pick – Willie McCarter, G, Drake University
1st round, 15th pick – Rick Roberson, C, University of Cincinnati
2nd round, 27th pick – Dick Garrett, G, Southern Illinois University

Roster

1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY–MM–DD)	From
4.0 !F	22	Baylor, Elgin	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1934-09-16	Seattle
6.0 !C	13	Chamberlain, Wilt	7000215899999999999♠7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	275 lb (125 kg)	1936-08-21	Kansas
6.0 !C	31	Counts, Mel	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1941-10-16	Oregon State
1.0 !PG	21	Egan, Johnny	7000180340000000000♠5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1939-01-31	Providence
4.0 !F	24	Erickson, Keith	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1944-04-19	UCLA
2.0 !SG	20	Garrett, Dick	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1947-01-31	Southern Illinois
4.0 !F	52	Hairston, Happy	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	1942-05-31	New York
4.5 !PF	30	Hewitt, Bill	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1944-08-08	Southern California
3.0 !SF	33	Lynn, Mike	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1945-11-25	UCLA
2.0 !SG	15	McCarter, Willie	7000190500000000000♠6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1946-07-26	Drake
6.0 !C	35	Roberson, Rick	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	231 lb (105 kg)	1947-07-07	Cincinnati
4.5 !PF	14	Tresvant, John	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1939-11-06	Seattle
1.5 !G	44	West, Jerry	7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1938-05-28	West Virginia

Head coach

Joe Mullaney

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster
Last transaction: 2013-10-29

Regular season

After barely losing the NBA title the previous season, the veteran Lakers had high hopes coming into the 1969–70 season. However, 7 games into the season, Wilt Chamberlain suffered a severe knee injury and it was thought he would miss the next 10–12 months. Elgin Baylor also missed 28 games due to injury, and Jerry West missed 8. 1st draft pick Willie McCarter also missed almost the entire season. But the Lakers received key contributions from rookies Rick Roberson and Dick Garrett, and managed to battle the Atlanta Hawks for 1st place in the Western Division for most of the season. Chamberlain returned for the final few games, and while the Lakers finished 2nd in the division to Atlanta by 2 games, they were at full strength for the playoffs.

Season standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Atlanta Hawks	48	34	.585	–	25–13	18–16	5–5	24–16
x-Los Angeles Lakers	46	36	.561	2	27–14	17–21	2–1	24–16
x-Chicago Bulls	39	43	.476	9	23–10	9–25	7–8	22–18
x-Phoenix Suns	39	43	.476	9	22–15	12–25	5–3	24–16
Seattle SuperSonics	36	46	.439	12	22–14	10–26	4–6	14–26
San Francisco Warriors	30	52	.366	18	16–20	14–26	0–6	15–25
San Diego Rockets	27	55	.329	21	21–17	4–33	2–5	17–23

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1969-70 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BAL	BOS	CHI	CIN	DET	LAL	MIL	NYK	PHI	PHO	SDR	SFW	SEA
Atlanta	—	2–4	6–0	5–2	3–3	3–3	4–3	3–3	4–2	3–3	2–4	4–2	5–2	4–2
Baltimore	4–2	—	5–2	5–1	4–3	5–2	4–2	3–3	1–5	3–4	3–3	6–0	2–4	5–1
Boston	0–6	2–5	—	3–3	3–3	4–3	2–4	1–6	4–3	2–4	2–4	4–2	5–1	2–4
Chicago	2–5	1–5	3–3	—	3–3	3–3	4–2	4–2	0–6	3–3	5–2	3–4	4–2	4–3
Cincinnati	3–3	3–4	3–3	3–3	—	4–2	2–4	2–5	2–5	4–3	3–3	4–2	2–4	1–5
Detroit	3–3	2–5	3–4	3–3	2–4	—	3–3	1–6	1–6	1–5	3–3	3–3	3–3	3–3
Los Angeles	3–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	4–2	3–3	—	3–3	2–4	4–2	3–4	5–2	5–2	6–0
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	6–1	2–4	5–2	6–1	3–3	—	2–4	5–2	6–0	6–0	4–2	5–1
New York	2–4	5–1	3–4	6–0	5–2	6–1	4–2	4–2	—	5–2	6–0	5–1	5–1	4–2
Philadelphia	3–3	4–3	4–2	3–3	3–4	5–1	2–4	2–5	2–5	—	4–2	4–2	6–0	0–6
Phoenix	4–2	3–3	4–2	2–5	3–3	3–3	4–3	0–6	0–6	2–4	—	7–0	3–3	4–3
San Diego	2–4	0–6	2–4	4–3	2–4	3–3	2–5	0–6	1–5	2–4	0–7	—	5–2	4–2
San Francisco	2–5	4–2	1–5	2–4	4–2	3–3	2–5	2–4	1–5	0–6	3–3	2–5	—	3–4
Seattle	2–4	1–5	4–2	3–4	5–1	3–3	0–6	1–5	2–4	6–0	3–4	2–4	4–3	—

Game log

1969–70 game log

October

November

December

January

February

March

1969–70 schedule

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

The Lakers will still adjusting to playing at full strength with Wilt Chamberlain in the lineup, and it showed in the first round of the playoffs against the upstart Phoenix Suns. After winning game 1, the Suns stunned the Lakers by winning the next three games. Facing a 3–1 series deficit, the Lakers became the 2nd team in NBA history to overcome such a deficit and win the series.

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Phoenix Suns: Lakers win series 4-3

Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 128, Phoenix 112
Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Phoenix 114, Los Angeles 101
Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 112, Los Angeles 98
Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 112, Los Angeles 102
Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 138, Phoenix 121
Game 6 @ Phoenix: Los Angeles 104, Phoenix 93
Game 7 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 129, Phoenix 94

West Division Finals

After winning the final 3 games of the first round vs. Phoenix, the Lakers appeared to be hitting their stride. In a rematch of the 1969 Western Division finals (won by the Lakers in 5 games), the Lakers swept the Hawks, although each game was close except for game four.

(1) Atlanta Hawks vs. (2) Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers win series 4-0

Game 1 @ Atlanta: Los Angeles 119, Atlanta 115
Game 2 @ Atlanta: Los Angeles 105, Atlanta 94
Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 115, Atlanta 114 (OT)
Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 133, Atlanta 114

NBA Finals

(E1) New York Knicks vs. (W2) Los Angeles Lakers: Knicks win series 4-3

Game 1 @ New York: New York 124, Los Angeles 112
Game 2 @ New York: Los Angeles 105, New York 103
Game 3 @ Los Angeles: New York 111, Los Angeles 108 (OT)
Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 121, New York 115 (OT)
Game 5 @ New York: New York 107, Los Angeles 100
Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 135, New York 113
Game 7 @ New York: New York 113, Los Angeles 99

Awards and records

Jerry West, All-NBA First Team
Jerry West, NBA All-Defensive First Team
Jerry West, NBA All-Star Game
Elgin Baylor, NBA All-Star Game
Dick Garrett, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References

↑ 1969–70 Los Angeles Lakers

1969–70 NBA season by team

1969 NBA draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions

Eastern	Baltimore Boston Cincinnati Detroit Milwaukee New York Philadelphia

Western	Atlanta Chicago Los Angeles Phoenix San Diego San Francisco Seattle

Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers seasons

1940s

1947–48

1948–49

1950s

1949–50

1950–51

1951–52

1952–53

1953–54

1960s

1970s

1971–72

1980s

1979–80

1981–82

1984–85

1986–87

1987–88

1990s

2000s

1999–00

2000–01

2001–02

2008–09

2010s

2009–10

Bold indicates NBA Finals victory

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