 In the 1970 – 71 NBA season , the Lakers made a notable move by signing future Hall @-@ of @-@ Fame guard Gail Goodrich , who came back from the Phoenix Suns after playing for L.A. until 1968 . Chamberlain averaged 20 @.@ 7 points , 18 @.@ 2 rebounds and 4 @.@ 3 assists , once again led the NBA in rebounding and the Lakers won the Pacific Division title . After losing Elgin Baylor to an Achilles tendon rupture that effectively ended his career , and especially after losing Jerry West after a knee injury , the handicapped Lakers were seen as underdogs against the Milwaukee Bucks of freshly crowned MVP Lew Alcindor , and veteran Hall @-@ of @-@ Fame guard Oscar Robertson in the Western Conference Finals . Winning the regular season with 66 wins , the Bucks were seen as favourites against the depleted Lakers ; still , many pundits were looking forward to the matchup between the 34 @-@ year @-@ old Chamberlain and the 24 @-@ year @-@ old Alcindor . In Game 1 , Abdul @-@ Jabbar outscored Chamberlain 32 – 22 , and the Bucks won 106 – 85 . In Game 2 , the Bucks won again despite the Lakers center scoring 26 points , four more than his Milwaukee counterpart . Prior to Game 3 , things became even worse for the Lakers when Keith Erickson , West 's stand @-@ in , had an appendectomy and was out for the season ; with rookie Jim McMillian easing the scoring pressure , Chamberlain scored 24 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in a 118 – 107 victory , but the Bucks defeated the Lakers 117 – 94 in Game 4 to take a 3 – 1 series lead . Milwaukee closed out the series at home with a 116 – 98 victory in Game 5 . Although Chamberlain lost , he was lauded for holding his own against MVP Alcindor , who was not only 10 years younger , but healthy . 
