Fansided

Every NBA team’s greatest playoff moment

By Cody Williams

CHICAGO - JUNE 7: Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls matches up against Karl Malone #32 of the Utah Jazz in Game Three of the 1998 NBA Finals at the United Center on June 5, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won 96-54. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1998 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHICAGO - JUNE 7: Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls matches up against Karl Malone #32 of the Utah Jazz in Game Three of the 1998 NBA Finals at the United Center on June 5, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won 96-54. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1998 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
17 of 30
Next

Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem, Oscar bring one home (1971 NBA Finals)

Quite frankly, the current iteration of the Milwaukee Bucks looks like a team that might have their own contender for the franchise’s greatest playoff moment sooner rather than later. Giannis Antetokounmpo is here and he’s a bonafide star. Meanwhile, it seems pretty clear at this point that we can put to bed the debate over whether or not Jason Kidd is a good NBA head coach. However, their moment has yet to happen, which means you have to go in the way-back machine to find the greatest playoff moment in Bucks history.

Said way-back machine takes us to the 1970-71 season with the Bucks being led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson — maybe you’ve heard of them. Kareem was not long out of UCLA at the time and clearly at the height of his powers. The big man captured MVP honors in the regular season as he went for 31.6 points and 16 rebounds per night.

What Kareem’s exploits also did was make the Bucks into a virtually unstoppable force. They were the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, sure. What’s truly phenomenal, though, is that their 66-16 record was an absurd 14 games ahead of the team with the second-best record in the league.

That level of dominance continued into the playoffs in one of the more brilliant postseason runs in league history. Milwaukee dropped only two games over three series, with Kareem putting the work on Wilt Chamberlain and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. That also included a clean sweep of Wes Unseld and the Baltimore Bullets in the Finals to win the title. It’s hard to touch that type of performance in the postseason.

Home/NBA Playoffs