1969–70 New York Knicks season

The 1969–70 New York Knicks season was the 24th season of NBA basketball in New York City. The Knicks had a then single-season NBA record 18 straight victories en route to 60–22 record, which was the best regular season record in the team's history. They set the record for the best start in the first 24 games of a season at 23–1 before the Golden State Warriors surpassed it in 2015. After defeating the Bullets in the Eastern Division semifinals and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Division finals, the Knicks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games to capture their first NBA title.

The 1969–70 Knicks are considered to be among New York City's finest sporting championship teams, and are considered the greatest team in Knicks history and among the best in NBA history. Their journey was chronicled in various books and films, most recently in When the Garden was Eden for ESPN's 30 for 30 series.

Game log
All times are EASTERN time

Standings

 * x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

 * 1969–70 Schedule
 * 1969–70 Schedule

All times are EASTERN time

Playoffs

 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * March 26
 * Baltimore
 * W 120–117
 * Willis Reed (30)
 * Dave DeBusschere (24)
 * Walt Frazier (8)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 1–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * March 27
 * @ Baltimore
 * W 106–99
 * Willis Reed (27)
 * Willis Reed (17)
 * Frazier, Barnett (6)
 * Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
 * 2–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 3
 * March 29
 * Baltimore
 * L 113–127
 * Walt Frazier (24)
 * Dave DeBusschere (10)
 * Walt Frazier (5)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 2–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 4
 * March 31
 * @ Baltimore
 * L 92–102
 * Walt Frazier (25)
 * Willis Reed (15)
 * Walt Frazier (7)
 * Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
 * 2–2
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 5
 * April 2
 * Baltimore
 * W 101–80
 * Willis Reed (36)
 * Willis Reed (36)
 * Walt Frazier (6)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 3–2
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 6
 * April 5
 * @ Baltimore
 * L 87–96
 * Walt Frazier (18)
 * Willis Reed (16)
 * Walt Frazier (5)
 * Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
 * 3–3
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 7
 * April 6
 * Baltimore
 * W 127–114
 * DeBusschere, Barnett (28)
 * Willis Reed (14)
 * Walt Frazier (8)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 4–3


 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * April 11
 * Milwaukee
 * W 110–102
 * Willis Reed (24)
 * Dave DeBusschere (10)
 * Bill Bradley (6)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 1–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 2
 * April 13
 * Milwaukee
 * W 112–111
 * Willis Reed (36)
 * Willis Reed (19)
 * Walt Frazier (14)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 2–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 3
 * April 17
 * @ Milwaukee
 * L 96–101
 * Willis Reed (21)
 * Reed, DeBusschere (10)
 * Walt Frazier (7)
 * Milwaukee Arena 10,746
 * 2–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 4
 * April 19
 * @ Milwaukee
 * W 117–105
 * Willis Reed (26)
 * Walt Frazier (11)
 * Dick Barnett (8)
 * Milwaukee Arena 10,746
 * 3–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 5
 * April 20
 * Milwaukee
 * W 132–96
 * Willis Reed (32)
 * Dave DeBusschere (11)
 * Walt Frazier (6)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 4–1


 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * April 24
 * Los Angeles
 * W 124–112
 * Willis Reed (37)
 * Reed, DeBusschere (16)
 * Dick Barnett (9)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 1–0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 2
 * April 27
 * Los Angeles
 * L 103–105
 * Willis Reed (29)
 * Willis Reed (15)
 * Walt Frazier (11)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 1–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 3
 * April 29
 * @ Los Angeles
 * W 111–108 (OT)
 * Willis Reed (38)
 * Willis Reed (17)
 * Walt Frazier (7)
 * The Forum 17,500
 * 2–1
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 4
 * May 1
 * @ Los Angeles
 * L 115–121 (OT)
 * Dick Barnett (29)
 * Dave Stallworth (13)
 * Walt Frazier (11)
 * The Forum 17,509
 * 2–2
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 5
 * May 4
 * Los Angeles
 * W 107–100
 * Walt Frazier (21)
 * Cazzie Russell (8)
 * Walt Frazier (12)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 3–2
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 6
 * May 6
 * @ Los Angeles
 * L 113–135
 * Dave DeBusschere (25)
 * Dave DeBusschere (9)
 * Dick Barnett (8)
 * The Forum 17,509
 * 3–3
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 7
 * May 8
 * Los Angeles
 * W 113–99
 * Walt Frazier (36)
 * Dave DeBusschere (7)
 * Walt Frazier (19)
 * Madison Square Garden 19,500
 * 4–3

Season

 * - align="center"
 * Dick Barnett || 82 || || 33.8 || 6.0 || || 2.8 || 2.7 || 3.6 || || || 14.9
 * - align="center"
 * Nate Bowman || 81 || || 9.2 || 1.2 || || 0.5 || 3.2 || 0.6 || || || 2.9
 * - align="center"
 * Bill Bradley || 67 || || 31.3 || 6.2 || || 2.2 || 10.0 || 2.5 || || || 14.5
 * - align="center"
 * Dave DeBusschere || 79 || || 33.3 || 6.2 || || 2.2 || 10.0 || 2.5 || || || 14.6
 * - align="center"
 * Walt Frazier || 77 || || 39.5 || 7.8 || || 5.3 || 6.0 || 8.2 || || || 20.9
 * - align="center"
 * Bill Hosket || 36 || || 6.5 || 1.3 || || 0.7 || 1.8 || 0.5 || || || 3.3
 * - align="center"
 * Don May || 37 || || 6.5 || 1.1 || || 0.5 || 1.4 || 0.5 || || || 2.6
 * - align="center"
 * Willis Reed || 81 || || 38.1 || 8.7 || || 4.3 || 13.9 || 2.0 || || || 21.7
 * - align="center"
 * Mike Riordan (basketball) || 81 || || 20.7 || 3.1 || || 1.4 || 2.4 || 2.5 || || || 7.7
 * - align="center"
 * Cazzie Russell || 78 || || 20.0 || 4.9 || || 1.6 || 3.0 || 1.7 || || || 11.5
 * - align="center"
 * Dave Stallworth || 82 || || 16.8 || 2.9 || || 2.0 || 3.9 || 1.7 || || || 7.8
 * - align="center"
 * John Warren || 44 || || 6.2 || 1.0 || || 0.5 || 0.9 || 0.7 || || || 2.5
 * - align="center"
 * New York Knicks || 82 || || 240.6 || 46.4 || || 22.2 || 48.9 || 26.0 || || || 115.0
 * }

Total

 * - align="center"
 * New York Knicks || 82 || || 240.6 || 40.3 || || 25.1 || || || || || 105.9
 * }

Playoffs

 * - align="center"
 * Dick Barnett || 19 || || 37.6 || 6.9 || || 3.1 || 2.1 || 3.4 || || || 16.9
 * - align="center"
 * Nate Bowman || 18 || || 7.1 || 1.0 || || 0.4 || 2.4 || 0.3 || || || 2.4
 * - align="center"
 * Bill Bradley || 19 || || 32.4 || 5.3 || || 1.8 || 3.8 || 3.2 || || || 12.4
 * - align="center"
 * Dave DeBusschere || 19 || || 36.9 || 6.8 || || 2.4 || 11.6 || 2.4 || || || 16.1
 * - align="center"
 * Walt Frazier || 19 || || 43.9 || 6.2 || || 3.6 || 7.8 || 8.2 || || || 16.0
 * - align="center"
 * Bill Hosket || 5 || || 5.8 || 0.8 || || 0.6 || 1.0 || 0.4 || || || 2.2
 * - align="center"
 * Don May || 10 || || 3.5 || 1.0 || || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || || || 2.0
 * - align="center"
 * Willis Reed || 18 || || 40.7 || 9.9 || || 3.9 || 13.8 || 2.8 || || || 23.7
 * - align="center"
 * Mike Riordan (basketball) || 19 || || 15.6 || 2.8 || || 1.3 || 2.4 || 1.4 || || || 6.9
 * - align="center"
 * Cazzie Russell || 19 || || 16.1 || 4.2 || || 0.9 || 2.5 || 0.8 || || || 9.4
 * - align="center"
 * Dave Stallworth || 19 || || 14.5 || 3.2 || || 0.8 || 4.1 || 1.1 || || || 7.2
 * - align="center"
 * John Warren || 2 || || 2.2 || 0.2 || || 0.0 || 0.3 || 0.2 || || || 0.4
 * - align="center"
 * New York Knicks || 19 || || 256.3 || 48.3 || || 18.8 || 51.8 || 24.2 || || || 115.6
 * }

Total

 * - align="center"
 * New York Knicks || 19 || || 48.5 || 41.9 || || 23.1 || || || || || 106.8
 * }

Local TV
Some New York Knicks TV Games never aired on WOR-TV because of broadcast conflict with the New York Rangers (NHL).

Local Radio
Some New York Knicks radio games never aired on WHN because of broadcast conflict with the New York Rangers (NHL).

Transactions
Transactions listed are from July 1, 1969, to June 30, 1970.

20th NBA All-Star Game
New York Knicks NBA All-Star representatives at the 1970 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at The Spectrum.

NBA finals
Without question, the defining moment in the series occurred in Game 7, where an injured Reed limped onto the court right before the start of the game.

On a re-creation of that moment, Marv Albert described it: "Here comes Willis! The crowd is going wild! Willis passes the scorers table, he grabs a basketball. The Lakers have stopped (shooting), the Lakers are watching Willis!"

He scored the game's first two baskets and proceeded not to score for the remainder of the game. Contrary to popular lore, he did not sit out after his first two baskets, but remained on the floor for 27 minutes. Despite his lack of scoring after his first four points, Reed's heroics inspired the team, and they won the game by a score of 113–99. The entire starting line up for the 69–70 Knicks had their jerseys retired by the New York Knicks. The jerseys of Walt Frazier (#10), Willis Reed (#19), Dave DeBusschere (#22), Bill Bradley (#24), and Dick Barnett (#12) all hang from the rafters at Madison Square Garden. Reed walking on to the court was voted the greatest moment in Madison Square Garden history.

Knicks win series 4–3