1971 ABA Playoffs

There was a one-game playoff for fourth place in the Western Division because the Texas Chaparrals and Denver Rockets had tied with regular season records of 30–54. The game was played on April 1 and the Chaparrals won 115–109.

This was the first season in ABA history in which the team with the best regular season record did not win the ABA championship. The Indiana Pacers had the league's best record during this season at 58–26 (.690), putting them one game ahead of the eventual league champion Utah Stars in the Western Division.

This was the first season in ABA history in which neither regular season division champion made it to the ABA finals. The second place Utah Stars represented the West while the Kentucky Colonels, second place in the East behind the Virginia Squires, met them in the finals.

Game 3 of the Eastern Finals saw 287 total points scored. This was the most points scored in any ABA playoff game, and would be the most points scored in a playoff game in either the NBA or ABA until 1992.

In the Finals, the home team won every game. 13,260 fans attended the decisive Game 7 of the ABA championship series between the Utah Stars and Kentucky Colonels at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 18, 1971. After the Stars won 131-121, the fans stormed the floor and mobbed the court for twenty minutes. Willie Wise and Zelmo Beaty rode off the floor carried upon the shoulders of Utah fans.^[1]

Zelmo Beaty was named Most Valuable Player of the ABA playoffs.

Both teams won their regular season finales to set up a game for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Division; Denver had beaten Texas seven of twelve times in the regular season.^[2]

The Chaparrals shot out to an early lead that went to 14 three times in the first quarter, but Denver fought back to lead by two at halftime. In the second half, the Rockets led by 5 at one point before Texas overcame their troubles on the scoring of Donnie Freeman (33) and Gene Moore (28). The two teams battled and were tied multiple times in the final six minutes before Freeman scored a layup with a foul shot to give the Chapparals a 107-104 lead with 3:32 left that they would never relinquish.^[3]

Kentucky started the game with a rapid attack led by Dan Issel that had him score 17 points in the first 12 minutes as the Colonels led 32-19 at one point in the first quarter. Stars coach Bill Sharman decided to send in reserve George Stone into the game along with later sending in Ron Boone to get outside shooting strength that saw the two combined for 37 points as the Stars led by 16 at halftime. The Stars continued to roll with a defense and tough rebounding effort (outdoing them 59-56) as Zelmo Beaty and Stone led the Stars in scoring with 26 each. The 50 points scored in the second quarter set a league record for a playoff game.^[5][6]

In a game where both teams had a leading scorer with 40 points (Zelmo Beaty, Dan Issel), the Stars pulled a 2-0 series lead. Beaty went 18-of-23 while his teammate Willie Wise scored 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting with eight free throws to go with 24 rebounds and eight assists. Utah pulled away in the second quarter, never trailing after halftime; Utah shot 57 percent from the line while Kentucky could only muster 48 percent.^[7]

Wracked with injuries to Merv Jackson (tendonitis) and Red Robbins (intestinal flu), the Stars were trounced by the Colonels in a game where Zelmo Beaty ran into foul trouble early as the trio of Cincy Powell, Dan Issel and Jim Ligon dominated on the boards with 17 rebounds each; the Colonels outrebounded the Stars (69-57), particularly on the offensive side (23-14).^[8]

The Colonels ran off into a 13-point lead at halftime after the Stars shot miserably, but Utah (still with a sore Jackson and sickened Robbins) managed to narrow it down to single digits with time expiring. Zelmo Beaty fouled out with less than five minutes remaining, while Robbins missed foul shots and a jumper that would've given Utah a late lead as the two teams went into overtime. The Colonels took control from there, with Carrier and Louie Dampier scoring and playing defense that saw them outscore Utah 10-6 to tie the series. Utah shot 41.8 percent from the field while Kentucky shot 45.9%. Willie Wise had 34 points to lead Utah while Dampier had 33.^[9]

Utah rode a first half where they led by 19 on 53 percent shooting to coast to victory, with Zelmo Beaty scoring 32 on 11-of-21 from the field (with 10 free throws) while getting 22 rebounds and five assists. A skirmish broke out in the third quarter when Willie Wise and Cincy Powell tangled that saw both benches empty before Ron Boone managed to "bop" Powell; Boone received a technical and Powell received a personal foul as the game moved forward.^[10]

Cincy Powell openly had stated he would "get Ron Boone" in the days leading up to Game 6. As it turned out, Powell would impact the game by leading the Colonels in scoring with 31 points on 14-of-23 shooting (with three free throws) while getting 17 rebounds as the home team once again won in the Finals. Utah shot barely over 40% from the field (while missing all nine three-point attempts) and were outrebounded as late fouls plagued them; the trio of Ron Boone, Merv Jackson and Glen Combs combined for just 20. Within two hours of the box office being opened at Salt Palace for a Game 7, every ticket had been purchased.^[11]

A sellout crowd of 13,260 watched the game despite the game being broadcast locally in Utah. The Stars scored 10 of the first eleven points in the game, but Kentucky soon got hot and led by the end of the first quarter. Their biggest lead of the night was a seven-point lead early in the second quarter, but the Stars and Colonels both would trade the lead before Glen Combs gave the Stars a 41-40 lead. The Stars never trailed after the shot. Darel Carrier had 31 points for Kentucky, with three straight three-pointers near the end of the third quarter to help narrow the deficit. With 4:29 to go, Kentucky was down by just four after being down by as much as 14, but Willie Wise scored a layup with a made free throw to go along with Zelmo Beaty making a layup to give Utah a nine point lead in just over a minute of play. The tough defense by Utah limited Kentucky to just 39 percent shooting while Beaty outrebounded Dan Issel in the battle of centers (16-12) to counteract the 41 points scored by Issel.^[12]

Celebration spilled out of the 10,000-seat Salt Palace (where the fans actually swarmed the court) and into the streets of the state capital for jubilant Stars fans. It was the first professional sports championship for the state of Utah and the only one until MLS Cup 2009 by Real Salt Lake; it is still the only professional basketball championship in the state of Utah.^[13][14][15]

Two members of the Stars would eventually be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: Zelmo Beaty (2016) and head coach Bill Sharman (2004). This was the last game coached by Sharman with the Stars, as he elected to resign to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. He was replaced by LaDell Andersen. On June 20, Frank Ramsey (who had taken over for Gene Rhodes in the middle of the season as head coach) was fired by the Colonels and replaced by former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Joe Mullaney.^[16]