1970 NBA All-Star Game

Result

MVP: Willis Reed

Box score

Bench (10+ points): Hal Greer (15), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10), Gus Johnson (10), Dave DeBusschere (10)

Bench (10+ points): Joe Caldwell (13), Lenny Wilkens (12)

Game context

The 1970 All-Star Game, played January 20 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia before 15,244 fans, was the league's first All-Star Game broadcast nationally by ABC with Chris Schenkel and Jack Twyman calling the action, part of the network's growing NBA package during a decade in which television exposure would become an increasingly central part of the league's growth strategy. On the floor, New York Knicks center Willis Reed was named MVP after posting 21 points and 11 rebounds as the East won a back-and-forth game, 142-135, that turned into a shootout by the fourth quarter. The East built an early cushion, winning the first quarter 36-21, but the West rallied in the second (38-35) to cut into the deficit before the East pushed the margin back out with a 35-26 third quarter. The fourth quarter was the wildest of the four, with the West actually outscoring the East 50-36 in the final period in a furious, high-paced rally that closed the final gap considerably but still fell seven points short. Reed's performance came during a landmark 1969-70 season for the Knicks center, who would go on to win the NBA's regular-season MVP, the Finals MVP, and this All-Star Game MVP all in the same year — a rare triple-crown of major awards accomplished by only a small handful of players in league history — and who would famously limp onto the floor for Game 7 of that spring's NBA Finals against the Lakers on a torn thigh muscle, delivering one of the most iconic moments in NBA Finals history just months after this All-Star performance. Red Holzman, Reed's own head coach with the Knicks, led the East in front of a Philadelphia crowd that had seen the game once before, in 1960 at the Warriors' old Convention Hall; this was the Spectrum's first time hosting, reflecting the 76ers' move into their new arena a few years earlier. Richie Guerin of the Atlanta Hawks again coached the West, continuing an assignment he had also held in 1969. Seattle's Bob Rule was added to the Western roster as a late replacement for the injured Nate Thurmond, a reminder of how frequently injuries reshuffled these all-star rosters even in the pre-modern-medicine, heavier-minutes era of NBA basketball. The 76ers' hosting of the game at their new Spectrum arena, following the Warriors' single 1960 turn at the older Convention Hall, gave Philadelphia its second time showcasing the event within a decade, part of the city's long-running status as one of the league's core Eastern markets dating back to the BAA's founding seasons.

Sources

• Basketball-Reference — NBA All-Star Game History
• Basketball-Reference — NBA & ABA All-Star Game MVP (Kobe Bryant Trophy)
• Wikipedia — 1970 NBA All-Star Game