The Lakers defeated the New York Knicks in five games to win the title, after going 69–13 during the regular-season, a record that stood for 24 seasons until the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls went 72–10.
The team went on to win 81 regular season and playoff games overall, a record that would stand alone for 14 years until the Boston Celtics matched it in 1986.
Roster Last transaction: 2013-03-22 Since moving to Los Angeles, the Lakers were repeatedly foiled by the Boston Celtics in their attempts to capture an NBA title.
In 1971, after losing Jerry West to a season-ending injury in February, they lost in the Western Conference finals to the powerful Milwaukee Bucks.
Star players Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West were all in their 30s, and had all missed significant time due to injuries in the prior two seasons.
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, led by superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, appeared to be starting a new NBA dynasty.
He re-tooled Wilt Chamberlain's game to focus on defense, rebounding, and jump-starting the fast break with quick outlet passes to guards Jerry West and Gail Goodrich.
The only casualty of this system was the aging Baylor, who could not physically handle the up-tempo practices and offense and retired 9 games into the season.
Wilt Chamberlain scored 24 points and 29 rebounds and earned the NBA Finals MVP Award.