• The Buffalo Braves competed in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference while the Cleveland Cavaliers were placed in the Central Division. In the West, the Portland Trail Blazers gave the Pacific Division five teams.
• In 1972, the Cincinnati franchise moved to Kansas City/Omaha.

The Milwaukee Bucks won the 1970-71 NBA championship in just their third season in the league. Two superstars spearheaded the rapid ascent of Coach Larry Costello's club.

• The Bucks used the #1 pick in the 1969 draft to select Lew Alcindor of UCLA. The result was a 29-game improvement in 1969-70. Lew made the All-Rookie Team as did Milwaukee's fourth round pick, 6'6" F Bobby Dandridge.
• Milwaukee defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in five games in the first round of the playoffs. Then the New York Knicks trampled the Bucks in five games to reach the finals.
• The next day, Milwaukee General Manager Wayne Embry traded two players to Cincinnati for G/F Oscar Robertson.
• With Alcindor, now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, averaging 34.8ppg and Oscar orchestrating the offense, the Bucks tore through the 1970 +playoffs, culminating in a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the finals.
• Any thoughts of a dynasty vanished the following season when the Bucks went 63-19 only to lose to the Lakers in six games in the Western Conference Finals as Wilt Chamberlain neutralized Kareem enough to take the series.
• The 1972-73 season saw the Bucks win the Midwest Division again but stumble in the playoffs, losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first round.

The 1973-74 Bucks finished 59-23, their worst record since their maiden season of '68-69.

• But that was still the best record in the league to earn home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
• Kareem dominated the statistics, leading the club in points (27.0 per game), rebounds (14.5), field goal % (53.9), and blocks (3.5).
• 35-year-old Robertson, who once led the NBA in scoring, was content to be the fourth-leading scorer on the team but lead the club in assists (6.4).
• Dandridge contributed 18.9ppg, and the other guard, Lucius Allen, ranked third with 17.6ppg. .
• The Bucks were fourth in the Western Conference in scoring but second in points allowed thanks to Kareem protecting the lane.

The Boston Celtics fell on hard times quickly after upsetting the Lakers in the 1969 Finals.

• The downfall began when player-coach Bill Russell retired from both roles. The Jones boys, K. C. and Sam, joined him.
• So General Manager Red Auerbach started a rebuilding project, refocusing the team around 6'5" G John Havlicek.
• Under another former player, Tom Heinsohn, the Celtics went 34-48 in 1969-70 to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1950.
• They improved to 44-38 the next year but again failed to qualify for the post-season.

Celtic fortunes took a turn for the better when, like the Bucks the year before, Boston drafted a center in the first round of the 1970 draft.

• GM Red Auerbach fell in love with Florida State C Dave Cowens after seeing him play in one college game.
  As the story goes, the more Auerbach watched Cowens, the more he liked him. But the wily GM didn't want the other pro scouts at the game to think he liked Cowens. So after a few minutes of play, Red got up and left with a disgusted look on his face.
• Red was concerned that the 6'8" Cowens would not be tall enough to be an NBA center. But Dave resisted that move in training camp. Auerbach phoned Russell to get his opinion. "No one's going to intimidate that kid," said Bill. "Let him play where he wants."
• Cowens created his own version of "NBA center." Too small to bang around in the low post with larger opponents, Dave used his other assets. He was a fine leaper with great speed and long arms. That allowed him to play corner-to-corner, enabling the Celtics to have the best switching defense in the NBA because Cowens could keep pace with smaller men if necessary.
• The lefthander also worked on increasing his shooting range.

Now that he had Cowens, Heinsohn wanted to reinstate the fast break the Celtics used so effectively when Bill Russell was their center.

• Tom needed quick guards to run the break. So he turned to 6'5" Don Chaney, hitherto a defensive specialist who worked hard to improve his shooting, and rookie Jo Jo White. White had the agility to lead the fast break, but he came from Kansas, a program that played a controlled offense.
• The Celtics improved ten games from '70 to '71 (34-48 to 44-38). They ascended to 56-26 in '71-72 to win the Atlantic Division and reach the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Knicks in the conference finals.
• The upward surge continued in '72-73 aided by another shrewd acquisition by Auerbach - PF Paul Silas from Phoenix. Boston's 68-14 record topped the league by eight, but they lost to the Knicks again in the Boston Garden in Game 7 of the conference finals and watched on TV as New York trampled the Lakers in the Finals.

Final standings

A freak injury hurt the Bucks as they entered the playoffs.

• Lucius Allen slipped when he stepped on a warmup jersey near the end of the season and tore up his knee. Allen's replacement, Ron Williams, had played less than half the minutes that Allen logged. So Oscar would face the vaunted Celtic press virtually alone. At the least, Boston hoped to wear down the 35-year-old point guard during each game and as the finals continued.
• Both coaches agreed that the matchup in the middle would probably determine the series.
  Heinsohn: "There's no real way to defense Jabbar. All you can do is get position on him and make his hooks a little longer and double team him. You can't overplay him too much because he's such a good passer."
  Costello: "Cowens is a good shooter, and if he goes out 15 to 18 feet, Kareem will have to go out and play him. The key then will be what our forwards do with their forwards."