Welcome to my first series regarding NBA history examining the most dominant single-season teams in NBA lore. Whether we’re discussing all-time greats like Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, and Magic Johnson or what the greatest rookie class might have been I am a person who loves to debate about the NBA and would discuss these types of topics into the night.
That being said, one of my favorite discussions revolves around who fans feel were the greatest teams in NBA history – not the team who assembled the most talent or won the most games (although that usually plays a large part) but squads that dissected the opposition with such precision that they are forever stamped in NBA record books – usually accompanied by a title. Not only that, this list is about the greatest teams who were also the most DOMINANT all season/playoffs, not necessarily who SHOULD have been among the most dominant (say, the 2000-01 Lakers).
Thanks in advance to the amazing www.basketball-reference.com team – you continue to be my #1 statistical reference tool for analysis.
NOTE: For those not familiar with SRS rating – it is a team rating that takes into account point differential and strength of schedule and is very beneficial to stat junkies. Please visit here for a better explanation.
Also, to be considered for this list the team in question MUST have won the championship. No exceptions.
We begin with number ten on my list of the greatest single-season teams ever, the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks.
#10: 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks - 66-16 (12-2 Playoffs)
KEY TEAM STATS: PPG: 118.4 (#1), OPP. PPG: 106.2 (#3), SRS RATING: 11.91 (#1 in NBA history)
TEAM LEADERS:
Scoring – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31.7)
Rebounding – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,311)
Assists – Oscar Robertson (668)
This was one dominant force, ladies and gentlemen, and should be discussed and appreciated more often. In terms of how convincingly they defeated their competition, precision on both sides of the ball, and their outstanding run through the post-season this was one of the most complete teams of any era.
The very idea of teaming the veteran legend Oscar Roberston with the newly minted ROY Kareem (Lew Alcindor then, of course) must have seemed mind-boggling and frightening at the time and in their first season together they did not disappoint.
Robertson, you might recall, averaged a triple-double per game in 1961-62 and joined Milwaukee after toiling in Cincinnati for ten fruitless seasons and was nearing the end of his peerless prime. Abdul-Jabbar was fresh off a rookie campaign that saw him average 28.8 points and 14.5 boards, delivering bunches of those scores on an unstoppable hook-shot. Yes, this combo appeared to be perfect for each other and the results were instantaneous and magnificent.
This squad defeated the opposition by 12.25 points per game and, after starting the season 1-1 (a one point defeat to the Pistons) ran off sixteen consecutive victories followed by a twenty-game streak near the end of the season. It’s important to note that they won all five of their games against the Celtics (champs in 68 and 69), defeated the Lakers four times in five tries, and lost just one season series – to the 1970 NBA champion New York Knicks.
As great as this team was on paper and in real life a few factors kept them from creeping beyond number ten in my eyes.
First off, while each team played the other far more often than we see today, the ABA was still in existence and had acquired quite a few excellent ballplayers such as Rick Barry, Artis Gilmore (who is somehow NOT in the HOF), Spencer Haywood, and Billy Cunningham by this time. While the talent level was still high it was definitely watered down – especially with Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West on the same team in L.A.
Secondly, their run to the finals didn’t exactly come at the expense of dynasties – the Warriors, Lakers, and Bullets won just 42, 48, and 42 games, respectively. The Knicks, who possessed the only real shot at defeating these Bucks, were upset in the Conference Finals by the upstart Bullets, who would win just 38 games the following season.
Finally, the Boston Celtics, who had recently ended an unrepeatable run of eleven titles in thirteen seasons and waved goodbye to Bill Russell, were in the process of rebuilding and were not ready to impose a challenge on the Bucks - they still won 44 games but failed to make the postseason.
After Abdul-Jabbar and Roberston, the team didn’t have another Hall of Famer on the roster (although Bob Dandridge had a very successful career, at least statistically) – you might not think this is a deal-breaker but in the following days check out the other teams on this list. Talk about stacked!
It’s too bad the 1971-72 Milwaukee Bucks team didn’t win the title as they were nearly as dominating as this bunch. Don’t fret though - they ran into another team that will appear on this list.
In closing, here is an article from the legendary “SI Vault” discussing those 1970-71 Bucks.
Next: The 2007-08 Boston Celtics
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