NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Bulls : Even Before Magic, Lakers Had Touch Against Bulls : From 1971 to 1973, Though, the ‘Bad Boys’ of Their Time Gave Star-Studded Team All It Could Handle in Playoffs

When the Lakers and the Chicago Bulls first met in the NBA playoffs, there wasn’t any Magic in the air.

Instead, in three series from 1971 to ‘73, there were a lot of elbows and fists in the air.

An aging Laker squad, led by future Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, was twice forced to a seventh game by an expansion franchise that came into the NBA in 1966--the “Bad Boys” of their era, a team physical on defense and methodical and disciplined on offense.

At times, the heavy amount of body contact allowed by the officials led players to compare those Laker-Bull games to football and arm wrestling. Some of the comments about Jerry Sloan, the Bulls’ 6-foot-6 swingman and now the Utah Jazz coach, might well have been said today in reference to the Detroit Pistons’ Bill Laimbeer.

The Lakers entered the 1970-71 season still seeking their first title since moving from Minneapolis in 1960. But time was running out. West was 32, Chamberlain 34. Elgin Baylor, the city’s first NBA superstar who had turned 36, played in two games before severing his Achilles’ tendon.

General Manager Fred Schaus made two off-season moves that would pay great dividends: (1) Regaining guard Gail Goodrich, who had been lost to Phoenix in the 1968 expansion draft, and (2) Drafting forward Jim McMillian of Columbia. Additionally, in training camp, Schaus bought a player unwanted by the expansion Portland Trail Blazers, who would later figure greatly in the team’s history in other ways--Pat Riley.

The Lakers won the Pacific Division with a 48-34 record. The division title guaranteed them the home-court advantage in the Western Conference semifinals. They would enter the playoffs without West, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in March.

Unlike other expansion teams, the Bulls did not languish at the bottom of the standings from the outset. Chicago reached the playoffs in its first season in the NBA, the only expansion team to perform that feat. However, that success would later prove costly, because they were unable to draft high enough to select a dominant center.

By the 1970-71 season, with forwards Chet Walker and Bob Love combining for an average of almost 48 points a game, and the Bulls allowing 105.4 points a game, second-lowest in the league, Chicago won 51 games, third-most in the league.

Coach Dick Motta was also able to call on current Atlanta Hawk Coach Bob Weiss, a balding reserve guard who would bedevil the Lakers in the playoffs. At center, the Bulls had Tom Boerwinkle, a slow 7-footer with a deft touch who was often used to set screens for Love and Walker.

The series opened with the Lakers trailing, 54-39, at halftime of Game 1, in front of a crowd that left almost 7,000 empty seats at the Forum.

Keith Erickson and McMillian brought the Lakers back. In the second half, McMillian was 10 for 14, Erickson eight for eight as the Lakers won, 100-99.

In Game 2, the Bulls led, 76-72, after three quarters, but with Goodrich scoring 14 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, the Lakers rallied for a 105-95 victory.

There would be no Laker comebacks when the series moved to Chicago.

Motta shuffled his starting lineup, replacing guard Matt Guokas with Weiss, and Boerwinkle with Jim Fox.

Motta wouldn’t be around long to witness the changes.

With 7:09 left in the first quarter, Motta was ejected because he uttered two words to which referee Mendy Rudolph objected. In an era when NBA teams did not have assistant coaches, guard Jim King, a former Laker, took over Motta’s coaching duties.

Motta wasn’t the only Bull to be ejected. Sloan was tossed late in the third quarter after throwing a sharp pass at the feet of referee Bob Rakel.

Erickson and Love engaged in a 30-second fight midway through the first quarter but stayed in the game.

“It was like football out there,” Goodrich said after the Lakers’ 106-98 loss. “Why, I came off a pick, and Bob Love hit me right in the jaw and nothing was called.”

Said Chamberlain: “Yeah, it was rough. . . . It was ludicrous. But the inconsistency of the calls were rougher than the roughness of the game.”

The Bulls missed 15 of their first 16 shots in Game 4 but outscored the Lakers, 34-19, in the fourth quarter for a 112-102 victory before 18,650, then Chicago Stadium’s largest crowd for an NBA game.

Goodrich scored 33 points in the Lakers’ 115-89 Game 5 victory at the Forum.

The Lakers led, 62-53, early in the third quarter of Game 6 but were only able to make two of 19 shots during one third-quarter stretch as the Bulls rallied for a 113-99 victory.

In Game 7, the Lakers’ dominance at center made the difference, Chamberlain scoring 25 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in a 109-98 victory. Chamberlain also blocked two shots during a decisive 7-0 fourth-quarter spurt.

“I’ll tell you,” forward Happy Hairston said after the game. “There have been a lot of key men in this series, but I think the key guy was Chamberlain. His rebounding was outstanding. And when I’d lose Love on a switch, there was Wilt to make him miss his shot.”

The Lakers didn’t stay in the 1971 playoffs much longer. The Milwaukee Bucks, led by Lew Alcindor, won the Western Conference finals in five games, en route to the NBA title.

The biggest change for the 1971-72 Lakers was the hiring of Bill Sharman as coach, succeeding the fired Joe Mullaney. Sharman emphasized a running game and had Chamberlain concentrate on defense, rebounding and starting fast breaks with outlet passes.

In one of sports’ ironies, Baylor retired on Nov. 4, a day before the Lakers began an NBA-record 33-game winning streak. The Lakers’ 69-13 regular-season record remains the best in league history.

The Bulls had added guard Norm Van Lier, in a trade from Cincinnati, and rookies Howard Porter and Clifford Ray to their roster, and finished 57-25, again second in the Midwest Division.

Chicago entered the playoffs crippled by injuries. Walker was hampered by a sore left thigh, Boerwinkle played only eight minutes of Game 1 before reinjuring his left knee, and Love twisted his left ankle in Game 2.

The Lakers swept the Bulls, beat Milwaukee in six games and New York in five for their first NBA title in Los Angeles.

In 1972-73, a coin-flip loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, who had finished with a 60-22 record identical to the Lakers’ record, set up a third consecutive Laker-Chicago series.

The Bulls again entered the series hurting, with Ray out and Boerwinkle limited because of knee injuries. Dennis Awtrey, obtained from Philadelphia early in the season and at 6-10 physically overmatched against the 7-1 Chamberlain, inherited the starting center position.

The Lakers blew a seven-point lead in the final 2:44 of the fourth quarter in Game 1 at the Forum but were rescued when West scored seven points in overtime, and McMillian and Bill Bridges, acquired in a midseason trade from Philadelphia, each made two free throws in the final 13 seconds for a 107-104 victory.

Goodrich scored 33 points, West 30, and Chamberlain grabbed 21 rebounds and blocked 11 shots in a 108-93 Game 2 victory.

In near-repeats of 1971, the Bulls’ physical style disrupted the Lakers when the series shifted to Chicago, with the Bulls posting 96-88 and 98-94 victories.

“(The officials) didn’t call anything,” Goodrich said after the second loss. “That’s one of the roughest games I’ve ever been in.”

Said Sharman: “They hold and push and give the half-foul all the time. And they benefit from this type of play because the officials are used to seeing them do it and don’t call them on it every time.”

In Game 5, Chamberlain took offense in more ways than one. After shooting 39% and averaging eight points in the first four games, he scored 21 points and grabbed 29 rebounds while West had 36 points in a 123-102 victory.

Additionally, in the second quarter, Chamberlain apparently admonished Sloan for his aggressive tactics, giving Sloan a gentle push after the two made contact. Referee Jake O’Donnell quickly separated the players.

The Lakers had an off-day in Game 6, making 28 turnovers in a 101-93 loss.

Chamberlain again rescued the Lakers in Game 7. A 10-point second-quarter lead vanished as Van Lier’s outside shooting rallied the Bulls.

With 1:54 left, Chicago led, 92-88. But the Bulls couldn’t score on their next four trips down the floor.

On the game’s decisive play, Chamberlain ventured out from his normal position in front of the basket to block Van Lier’s medium-range shot and hit Goodrich for the winning layup with 28 seconds left.

Chicago called time out with 20 seconds to play, and 17 seconds remaining on the 24-second clock.

The Lakers denied the Bulls a shooting opportunity. After Walker, Weiss and Sloan all had the ball, Love’s shot didn’t hit the rim and the Lakers got the ball back on a 24-second violation.

West’s two free throws with two seconds left closed the scoring, as Chicago lost its 18th consecutive road playoff game, with 13 of the defeats coming at the Forum.

The Lakers had a much easier time against the Warriors in the Western Conference finals, winning in five games. The Lakers won the first game of the NBA finals against New York, only to lose the next four.

Chamberlain left the Lakers before the next season, signing a three-year, $1.8-million contract to become player/coach of the American Basketball Assn.’s San Diego Conquistadors, but never played because he still had an option year left on his Laker contract.

Although injuries limited West to 31 games in 1973-74, the Lakers still won the Pacific Division, only to be eliminated in five games by Milwaukee in the Western Conference semifinals.

After West’s retirement, before the start of the 1974-75 season, the Lakers missed the playoffs the next two seasons.

The Bulls advanced to the Western Conference finals in 1974 and ’75. They were swept by Milwaukee in ‘74, and held a 3-2 lead over the Warriors in ’75 but lost the final two games to the eventual NBA champions.

After Walker retired and Sloan sustained a knee injury, the Bulls slumped to a 24-58 record in 1975-76, and Motta was fired. The Bulls, shifted to the Central Division in 1980-81, would make the playoffs only twice more before Michael Jordan’s 1984 arrival.

Lakers-Bulls Playoff Series

1971 Western Conference semifinals

Lakers win, 4 games to 3

1972 Western Conference semifinals

Lakers win, 4 games to 0

1973 Western Conference semifinals

Lakers win, 4 games to 3