This Saturday marks 40th Anniversary of the 1971 Championship, won by the Milwaukee Bucks. Yes, the Bucks have won a title and April 30th was that banner day in Bucks history. The franchise won its first and only NBA title, defeating Baltimore 118-106 in Game 4 of the ’71 NBA Finals. The Bucks swept the Baltimore Bullets, winning Game 1 98-88, Game 2 102-83 and Game 3 107-99 before capturing the title after Game 4 in Baltimore.
The Bucks went 12-2 in that postseason, losing once each in the first (vs. San Francisco Warriors) and second (vs. Los Angeles Lakers) rounds. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks with 26.6 points and 17.0 rebounds en route to his 1971 Finals MVP award.
Some more fun facts about the Bucks ’71 title run:
- On April 4, 1971, the Bucks beat San Francisco 136-86, marking their biggest playoff win.
- The Bucks dispatch San Francisco and Los Angeles in five games and blast Baltimore in four straight for the NBA Championship, marking only the second time in League history that the title series ends in a sweep.
- In winning the World Championship, the Bucks come further, faster, than any expansion team in the history of major professional sports.
- For more on this team go here