The season ended with the Milwaukee Bucks winning the NBA Championship, beating the Baltimore Bullets 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals.
The NBA expanded to 17 teams as the Portland Trail Blazers, Buffalo Braves, and Cleveland Cavaliers began play. For the first time, the league was divided into Conferences (East and West), each with two divisions.
Before the season, on June 18, 1970, the NBA owners voted 13–4, to seek approval from Congress for a merger with the 11-team American Basketball Association into a 28-team league that would retain the NBA name. The NBA players opposed the merger, and Oscar Robertson filed an antitrust lawsuit that prevented further proceedings.