The 1970–71 Seattle SuperSonics season was the Seattle SuperSonics 4th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In their second season with Lenny Wilkens as head coach, the Sonics finished in 8th place in the Western Conference with a 38–44 record. Trouble arose with the injury of top scorer Bob Rule, who tore his Achilles tendon three games into the season during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers and lost him for the remainder of the season. Offseason During the offseason, the SuperSonics traded 10-year veteran Bob Boozer and their first round selection from the 1969 NBA draft, Lucius Allen to the Milwaukee Bucks for Don Smith (later known as Zaid Abdul-Aziz). Despite the early retirement announcement made by 24-year-old Smith to the Sonics' front office, he joined the team and played in 61 games in the regular season. Draft picks Note: only draft picks who participated in at least one game in the NBA are listed. Roster Depth chart Regular season Season standings z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot Record vs. opponents Game log |- bgcolor=#fcc | 1 | October 14 | Detroit | L 117–123 | Bob Rule (37) | | | Seattle Center Coliseum8,153 | 0–1 |- bgcolor=#cfc | 2 | October 17 | Boston | W 126–114 | Bob Rule (36) | | | Seattle Center Coliseum11,617 | 1–1 |- bgcolor=#cfc | 3 | October 21 | Phoenix | W 110–106 | Bob Rule (25) | | | Seattle Center Coliseum6,923 | 2–1 |- bgcolor=#cfc | 4 | October 23 | Portland | W 141–111 | Dick Snyder (25) | | | Seattle Center Coliseum9,201 | 3–1 |- bgcolor=#fcc | 5 | October 25 | @ Milwaukee | L 107–126 |Dick Snyder (24) | | | Milwaukee Arena9,340 | 3–2 |- bgcolor=#fcc | 6 | October 26 | @ Detroit | L 111–142 |Don Smith (19) | | | Cobo Arena2,835 | 3–3 |- bgcolor=#fcc | 7 | October 27 | @ New York | L 104–117 |Lenny Wilkens (24) | | | Madison Square Garden14,471 | 3–4 |- bgcolor=#fcc | 8 | October 28 | @ Cincinnati | L 118–131 |Don Smith (25) | | | Cincinnati Gardens1,623 | 3–5 |- bgcolor=#cfc | 9 | October 30 | @ Portland | W 115–104 |Lenny Wilkens (35) | | | Memorial Coliseum4,344 | 4–5 |- bgcolor=#cfc