 In his second year with the Lakers under new coach Joe Mullaney , Chamberlain seriously injured his knee . He was injured in the ninth game of the schedule , suffering a total rupture of the patellar tendon at the base of his right kneecap , and missed the next several months before appearing in the final three games of the 82 @-@ game regular season . Owing to a great start , he managed to average 27 @.@ 3 points , 18 @.@ 4 rebounds and 4 @.@ 1 assists per game . Again , the Lakers charged through the playoffs , and in the 1970 NBA Finals , the Lakers were pitted against the New York Knicks , loaded with future Hall @-@ of @-@ Famers Willis Reed , Dave DeBusschere , Bill Bradley , and Walt Frazier . Cherry observed that Reed , a prolific midrange shooter , was a bad matchup for Chamberlain : having lost lateral quickness due to his injury , the Lakers center was often too slow to block Reed 's preferred high post jump shots . In Game 1 , New York masterminded a 124 – 112 win in which Reed scored 37 points . In Game 2 , Chamberlain scored 19 points , grabbed 24 rebounds , and blocked Reed 's shot in the final seconds , leading the Lakers to a 105 – 103 win . Game 3 saw Jerry West famously hit a 60 @-@ foot shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 102 ; however , the Knicks took the game 111 – 108 . In Game 4 , Chamberlain scored 18 points and grabbed 25 rebounds and helped tie the series at 2 . In Game 5 , with the Knicks trailing by double digits , Reed pulled his thigh muscle and seemed to be done for the series . By conventional wisdom , Chamberlain now should have dominated against little @-@ used Knicks backup centers Nate Bowman and Bill <unk> or forwards Bradley and DeBusschere , who gave up more than half a foot against the Lakers center . Instead , the Lakers gave away their 13 @-@ point halftime lead and succumbed to the aggressive Knicks defense : L.A. committed 19 second half turnovers , and the two main scorers Chamberlain and West shot the ball only three and two times , respectively , in the entire second half . The Lakers lost 107 – 100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history . In Game 6 , Chamberlain scored 45 points and almost single @-@ handedly equalized the series in a 135 – 113 Lakers win , and with Reed out , the Knicks seemed doomed prior to Game 7 in New York . 
