1970–71 Phoenix Suns season

1970–71 Phoenix Suns season
Head coach	Cotton Fitzsimmons
General manager	Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s)	Richard Bloch
Arena	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	48–34 (.585)
Place	Division: 3rd (Midwest) Conference: 5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	KTAR

The 1970–71 Phoenix Suns season was the third season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons lead the Suns, in the NBA's first season which separated the teams into both conferences and divisions as the league continued to gain more teams. It was the first season the Suns would be without the services of All-Star guard Gail Goodrich. With a 48–34 record (fourth best in the league), the Suns set the NBA record for the team with the best winning percentage not to make the playoffs. The team would break their own record the next year with a 49–33 finish. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Suns were led in scoring by Dick Van Arsdale with 21.9 points per game. Connie Hawkins finished the season averaging 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Paul Silas led the Suns with 12.5 rebounds per game, the highest-ever average in Suns history, while Neal Walk garnered 8.2 rebounds to go with his 12.9 points a game.

Goodrich, a native of Los Angeles and who played college ball at UCLA, was traded before the season back to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he had played before being acquired in the expansion draft of 1968. In exchange, the Suns obtained the 29-year-old 7-footer Mel Counts, who was coming off a career-high 12.6 average in points. Goodrich would go on to play nine more seasons in the NBA, six of those with the Lakers. During those six years, he would average 22.3 points per game, appear in four All-Star Games and be named to an All-NBA First Team. Meanwhile, Counts averaged 11 points and 6.3 rebounds in his first of two seasons with the Suns.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	10	Greg Howard	Forward	United States	New Mexico
2	27	Fred Taylor	Guard	United States	Texas-Pan Am
3	29	Joe DePre	Guard	United States	St. John's
3	44	Greg McDivitt	Forward	United States	Ohio
3	48	Vann Williford	Forward	United States	North Carolina State
4	61	Bob Lienhard	Center	United States	Georgia
5	78	John Canine	Guard	United States	Ohio
6	95	Joe Thomas	Forward	United States	Marquette
7	112	Heyward Dotson	Guard	United States	Columbia
8	129	Steve Patterson	Center	United States	UCLA
9	146	Carl Ashley	Forward	United States	Wyoming
10	163	Gerhardus Schreur	Forward	United States	Arizona State
11	178	Jim Walls	Guard	United States	Clark
12	190	Ric Cobb	Center	United States	Marquette
13	200	Fred Carpenter	Forward	United States	Hawaii
14	210	Chad Calabria	Guard	United States	Iowa
15	219	Walt Williams	Forward	United States	Miami (Ohio)

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From C 31 Counts, Mel 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1941-10-16 Oregon State F 16 Green, Lamar 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1947-03-22 Morehead State G 23 Harris, Art 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1947-01-13 Stanford G 11 Haskins, Clem 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1943-07-11 Western Kentucky F/C 42 Hawkins, Connie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1942-07-17 Iowa F 44 Howard, Greg 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1948-01-08 New Mexico F 29 Silas, Paul 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1943-07-12 Creighton G 10 Taylor, Fred 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1948-02-05 Texas-Pan Am F 40 Thomas, Joe 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1948-03-09 Marquette G/F 5 Van Arsdale, Dick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1943-02-22 Indiana C 41 Walk, Neal 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1948-07-29 Florida G/F 25 Wetzel, John 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1944-10-22 Virginia Tech	Head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons (Midwestern St.) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	66	16	.805	–	34–2	28–13	4–1	14–4
x-Chicago Bulls	51	31	.622	15	30–11	17–19	4–1	7–11
Phoenix Suns	48	34	.585	18	27–14	19–20	2–0	9–9
Detroit Pistons	45	37	.549	21	24–17	20–19	1–1	6–12

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-Milwaukee Bucks	66	16	.805
2	y-Los Angeles Lakers	48	34	.585
3	x-Chicago Bulls	51	31	.622
4	x-San Francisco Warriors	41	41	.500
5	Phoenix Suns	48	34	.585
6	Detroit Pistons	45	37	.549
7	San Diego Rockets	40	42	.488
8	Seattle SuperSonics	38	44	.463
9	Portland Trail Blazers	29	53	.354

Game log

1970–71 game log Total: 48–34 (Home: 27–14; Road: 21–20)
October: 3–6 (Home: 3–2; Road: 0–4) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 1 October 15 San Diego W 119–100 Dick Van Arsdale (30) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,523 1–0 W 1 2 October 17 Detroit L 107–110 Connie Hawkins (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,646 1–1 L 1 3 October 20 @ San Diego L 114–115 Dick Van Arsdale (26) San Diego Sports Arena 7,246 1–2 L 2 4 October 21 @ Seattle L 106–110 Greg Howard (26) Seattle Center Coliseum 6,923 1–3 L 3 5 October 23 Cleveland W 108–104 Connie Hawkins (27) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,822 2–3 W 1 6 October 25 San Diego W 117–98 Clem Haskins (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,697 3–3 W 2 7 October 28 Chicago L 105–118 Connie Hawkins (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 6,343 3–4 L 1 8 October 30 @ Boston L 112–127 Paul Silas (23) Boston Garden 5,392 3–5 L 2 9 October 31 @ Baltimore L 103–106 Dick Van Arsdale (26) Baltimore Civic Center 4,527 3–6 L 3
November: 11–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 6–5) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 10 November 2 Buffalo W 110–102 Connie Hawkins (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,000 4–6 W 1 11 November 4 @ Cincinnati W 133–115 Clem Haskins, Connie Hawkins, Dick Van Arsdale (25) Cincinnati Gardens 2,091 5–6 W 2 12 November 6 @ Chicago W 105–102 Dick Van Arsdale (23) Chicago Stadium 8,107 6–6 W 3 13 November 7 @ Atlanta W 107–100 Connie Hawkins (21) Alexander Memorial Coliseum 5,116 7–6 W 4 14 November 8 @ Milwaukee L 105–125 Dick Van Arsdale (23) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 7–7 L 1 15 November 11 Portland W 114–100 Dick Van Arsdale (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 6,020 8–7 W 1 16 November 13 Cincinnati W 115–109 Clem Haskins, Connie Hawkins (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,802 9–7 W 2 17 November 15 Detroit W 108–104 Clem Haskins (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,344 10–7 W 3 18 November 17 @ New York L 100–103 Clem Haskins, Dick Van Arsdale (23) Madison Square Garden 18,275 10–8 L 1 19 November 19 @ Detroit L 110–112 Dick Van Arsdale (23) Cobo Arena 3,594 10–9 L 2 20 November 20 @ Baltimore L 110–121 Connie Hawkins (23) Baltimore Civic Center 4,572 10–10 L 3 21 November 21 @ Philadelphia W 125–119 Dick Van Arsdale (30) The Spectrum 6,519 11–10 W 1 22 November 22 @ Cleveland W 114–99 Connie Hawkins (29) Cleveland Arena 2,405 12–10 W 2 23 November 24 @ Buffalo L 106–112 Clem Haskins (25) Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 7,209 12–11 L 1 24 November 26 Seattle W 126–115 Connie Hawkins (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,192 13–11 W 1 25 November 27 @ Los Angeles W 116–105 Paul Silas (27) The Forum 13,089 14–11 W 2 26 November 28 San Diego L 116–117 Connie Hawkins (31) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,470 14–12 L 1
December: 9–7 (Home: 7–4; Road: 2–3) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 27 December 2 Atlanta W 126–112 Connie Hawkins (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,907 15–12 W 1 28 December 4 @ Portland W 126–121 Connie Hawkins (29) Memorial Coliseum 3,927 16–12 W 2 29 December 5 @ San Francisco W 105–100 Connie Hawkins (24) Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena 5,481 17–12 W 3 30 December 6 San Diego W 108–102 Connie Hawkins (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,935 18–12 W 4 31 December 8 Los Angeles L 112–121 Connie Hawkins (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,702 18–13 L 1 32 December 11 @ San Diego L 104–110 Connie Hawkins (26) San Diego Sports Arena 8,365 18–14 L 2 33 December 12 Milwaukee W 113–111 Dick Van Arsdale (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,002 19–14 W 1 34 December 15 San Francisco L 123–129 Clem Haskins (25) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,901 19–15 L 1 35 December 17 Detroit W 117–114 (OT) Connie Hawkins (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,548 20–15 W 1 36 December 19 @ Seattle L 131–135 Dick Van Arsdale (35) Seattle Center Coliseum 6,443 20–16 L 1 37 December 20 New York L 118–133 Dick Van Arsdale (20) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,445 20–17 L 2 38 December 22 Philadelphia L 129–133 (OT) Connie Hawkins (33) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,248 20–18 L 3 39 December 25 Atlanta W 127–115 Dick Van Arsdale (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,186 21–18 W 1 40 December 26 Portland W 115–103 Neal Walk (27) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 6,102 22–18 W 2 41 December 27 @ Los Angeles L 110–128 Neal Walk (20) The Forum 15,163 22–19 L 1 42 December 30 Los Angeles W 132–114 Clem Haskins (31) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,164 23–19 W 1
January: 11–4 (Home: 7–2; Road: 4–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 43 January 2 @ San Francisco W 122–116 (OT) Dick Van Arsdale (31) Cow Palace 3,812 24–19 W 2 44 January 3 San Francisco W 102–81 Clem Haskins (32) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 6,196 25–19 W 3 45 January 8 @ Boston L 114–122 Dick Van Arsdale (24) Boston Garden 7,124 25–20 L 1 46 January 9 @ Philadelphia L 112–123 Clem Haskins (22) The Spectrum 7,826 25–21 L 2 47 January 10 @ Atlanta W 116–105 Paul Silas (23) Alexander Memorial Coliseum 4,447 26–21 W 1 All-Star Break 48 January 14 New York W 107–88 Dick Van Arsdale (25) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,051 27–21 W 2 49 January 16 Baltimore W 117–100 Clem Haskins (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,002 28–21 W 3 50 January 18 @ Cincinnati W 118–99 Clem Haskins (29) Omaha, NE 3,149 29–21 W 4 51 January 20 Cincinnati L 114–126 Clem Haskins (27) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,586 29–22 L 1 52 January 22 Philadelphia L 116–117 Dick Van Arsdale (23) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,059 29–23 L 2 53 January 24 Chicago W 113–112 Mel Counts, Paul Silas (18) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,923 30–23 W 1 54 January 26 Buffalo W 114–82 Dick Van Arsdale (23) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,486 31–23 W 2 55 January 28 Los Angeles W 118–112 Mel Counts (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,036 32–23 W 3 56 January 29 @ Portland W 131–122 Dick Van Arsdale (36) Memorial Coliseum 5,877 33–23 W 4 57 January 30 Seattle W 134–116 Dick Van Arsdale (30) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 10,412 34–23 W 5
February: 9–4 (Home: 3–2; Road: 6–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 58 February 4 San Francisco L 105–117 Connie Hawkins (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 6,711 34–24 L 1 59 February 6 Cleveland W 119–91 Neal Walk, John Wetzel (22) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5,812 35–24 W 1 60 February 8 @ Milwaukee L 94–118 Connie Hawkins (23) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 35–25 L 1 61 February 9 @ Baltimore W 120–115 Dick Van Arsdale (27) Baltimore Civic Center 4,054 36–25 W 1 62 February 12 @ Cleveland W 114–105 Dick Van Arsdale (24) Cleveland Arena 4,297 37–25 W 2 63 February 13 @ New York L 97–114 Connie Hawkins (25) Madison Square Garden 19,500 37–26 L 1 64 February 14 @ Buffalo W 108–97 Dick Van Arsdale (29) Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 4,376 38–26 W 1 65 February 16 @ Boston W 119–116 Connie Hawkins (27) Boston Garden 6,091 39–26 W 2 66 February 17 Cincinnati W 133–117 Clem Haskins (29) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,006 40–26 W 3 67 February 19 Boston W 116–112 Dick Van Arsdale (26) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,256 41–26 W 4 68 February 21 Milwaukee L 97–125 Dick Van Arsdale (21) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,371 41–27 L 1 69 February 26 @ Philadelphia W 108–94 Connie Hawkins (30) The Spectrum 8,586 42–27 W 1 70 February 27 @ Detroit W 124–117 Dick Van Arsdale (42) Cobo Arena 8,878 43–27 W 2
March: 5–7 (Home: 2–3; Road: 3–4) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Record Streak 71 March 3 Chicago W 115–90 Clem Haskins (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,371 44–27 W 3 72 March 7 Baltimore L 108–117 Connie Hawkins (19) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,370 44–28 L 1 73 March 9 @ Detroit W 114–108 Dick Van Arsdale (31) Cobo Arena 4,269 45–28 W 1 74 March 10 @ Atlanta L 98–139 Dick Van Arsdale (19) Alexander Memorial Coliseum 6,266 45–29 L 1 75 March 12 @ Chicago L 92–116 Connie Hawkins (27) Chicago Stadium 14,703 45–30 L 2 76 March 13 @ Chicago L 99–111 Connie Hawkins (22) Chicago Stadium 17,505 45–31 L 3 77 March 14 @ Milwaukee W 125–113 Connie Hawkins (27) Madison, WI 9,035 46–31 W 1 78 March 16 Milwaukee L 111–119 Connie Hawkins, Dick Van Arsdale (28) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,640 46–32 L 1 79 March 18 New York L 123–131 (OT) Connie Hawkins (35) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7,454 46–33 L 2 80 March 19 @ Los Angeles W 111–106 Dick Van Arsdale (25) The Forum 17,254 47–33 W 1 81 March 20 Seattle W 114–107 Paul Silas (24) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 8,134 48–33 W 2 82 March 21 @ San Diego L 114–132 Clem Haskins (25) San Diego Sports Arena 5,840 48–34 L 1
1970–71 season schedule

Team-by-team results

Opponent	Home	Road	Total	All-time record	Suns leading scorer	Opp. leading scorer
Atlanta Hawks	2–0	2–1	4–1	8–9 (.471%)	Dick Van Arsdale (21.8)	Lou Hudson (26.0)
Baltimore Bullets	1–1	1–2	2–3	5–12 (.294%)	Dick Van Arsdale (21.8)	Earl Monroe (26.0)
Boston Celtics	2–0	1–2	3–2	7–10 (.412%)	Dick Van Arsdale (24.4)	John Havlicek (32.0)
Buffalo Braves	2–0	1–1	3–1	3–1 (.750%)	Dick Van Arsdale (22.5)	Don May (20.0)
Chicago Bulls	2–1	1–2	3–3	7–12 (.368%)	Connie Hawkins (21.8)	Bob Love (25.2)
Cincinnati Royals	2–1	2–0	4–1	9–8 (.529%)	Clem Haskins (27.2)	Tom Van Arsdale (20.0)
Cleveland Cavaliers	2–0	2–0	4–0	4–0 (1.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (23.0)	John Johnson (15.3)
Detroit Pistons	2–1	2–1	4–2	9–9 (.500%)	Dick Van Arsdale (25.3)	Dave Bing (28.3)
Los Angeles Lakers	2–1	2–1	4–2	8–11 (.421%)	Dick Van Arsdale (19.7)	Jerry West (28.8)
Milwaukee Bucks	1–2	1–2	2–4	4–16 (.200%)	Connie Hawkins (24.0)	Lew Alcindor (37.2)
New York Knicks	1–2	0–2	1–4	2–15 (.118%)	Dick Van Arsdale (22.8)	Dick Barnett (19.8)
Philadelphia 76ers	0–2	2–1	2–3	5–12 (.294%)	Connie Hawkins (26.8)	Billy Cunningham (29.6)
Portland Trail Blazers	2–0	2–0	4–0	4–0 (1.000%)	Dick Van Arsdale (28.5)	Geoff Petrie (27.5)
San Diego Rockets	2–1	0–3	2–4	10–11 (.476%)	Connie Hawkins (20.8)	Elvin Hayes (31.3)
San Francisco Warriors	1–2	2–0	3–2	8–9 (.471%)	Connie Hawkins (24.7)	Jerry Lucas (24.6)
Seattle SuperSonics	3–0	0–2	3–2	10–8 (.556%)	Dick Van Arsdale (23.8)	Dick Snyder (17.8)

Awards and honors

All-Star

• Connie Hawkins was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his second consecutive All-Star selection.
• Dick Van Arsdale was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his third consecutive All-Star selection.

Season

• Paul Silas was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game
PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Mel Counts	80	20.9	.457	.753	6.3	1.7	11.0
Lamar Green	68	19.5	.453	.604	6.9	0.8	5.9
Art Harris	56	17.0	.411	.611	1.8	2.4	8.3
Clem Haskins	82	33.7	.440	.784	4.0	4.7	17.8
Connie Hawkins	71	37.5	.434	.816^	9.1	4.5	20.9
Greg Howard	44	9.7	.393	.638	2.7	0.6	3.9
Paul Silas	81	36.3	.428	.685	12.5	3.0	11.9
Fred Taylor	54	10.2	.387	.624	1.6	0.9	5.5
Joe Thomas	39	5.2	.267	.450	1.1	0.4	1.4
Dick Van Arsdale	81	39.0	.452	.811	3.9	4.1	21.9
Neal Walk	82	24.8	.451	.765	8.2	1.4	12.9
John Wetzel	70	15.6	.431	.822^	2.2	1.6	4.7

^ - Minimum 350 free throw attempts.

Transactions

Trades

April 23, 1970	To Chicago Bulls---- Jim Fox 1971 second-round draft pick	To Phoenix Suns---- Clem Haskins
May 20, 1970	To Los Angeles Lakers---- Gail Goodrich	To Phoenix Suns---- Mel Counts
July 8, 1970	To New York Knicks---- Heywood Dotson	To Phoenix Suns---- 1971 fifth-round draft pick

Free agents

Subtractions Date Player Reason Left New Team May 11, 1970 Jerry Chambers Expansion Draft Portland Trail Blazers May 11, 1970 Stan McKenzie Expansion Draft Portland Trail Blazers July 27, 1970 Neil Johnson Waived Virginia Squires (ABA)

References

• Standings on Basketball Reference