| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 30–May 10, 1973 |
| Season | 1972–73 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | New York Knicks (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1973 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1972–73 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. The Knicks won their second (and most recent) NBA title. Willis Reed became the first player to be named NBA Finals MVP twice.
The playoff format was modified, as only the divisional champions qualified automatically; two wild-cards were also added from each conference. Once qualification was determined, the four qualifiers were seeded 1–4 based on record; divisional position no longer mattered. The #1 seed then played #4, and #2 played #3. Because of this new format, New York, the Atlantic Division runner-up, had home-court advantage versus the Baltimore Bullets, the Central Division champion, since the Knicks had the better regular-season record. The Bullets had home-court advantage in the 1972 playoffs versus the Knicks and in the 1971 playoffs versus Philadelphia, even though their record was worse than New York's and Philadelphia's were those seasons, because they had won their division, while the Knicks and Sixers were runners-up.
This was the second straight time (and third in the last 4 years) that the Lakers and Knicks met in the Finals; the Lakers–Knicks rivalry ended with two titles won by the Knicks and one by the Lakers.
This was the Lakers' last appearance in the Finals until 1980; It was New York's last appearance until 1994.
| Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Baltimore* | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Los Angeles* | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Milwaukee* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Golden State | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Golden State | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Los Angeles* | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Chicago | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Los Angeles* | 4 | ||||||||||||
April 1
|
| Atlanta Hawks 109, Boston Celtics 134 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–36, 25–27, 32–36, 28–35 | ||
| Pts: Lou Hudson 28 Rebs: Jim Washington 14 Asts: Hudson, Maravich 5 each |
Pts: John Havlicek 54 Rebs: Dave Cowens 17 Asts: Art Williams 12 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 4
|
| Boston Celtics 126, Atlanta Hawks 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–13, 28–30, 37–30, 32–40 | ||
| Pts: John Havlicek 29 Rebs: Dave Cowens 25 Asts: Jo Jo White 11 |
Pts: Pete Maravich 34 Rebs: Walt Bellamy 11 Asts: Pete Maravich 10 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 6
|
| Atlanta Hawks 118, Boston Celtics 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–29, 39–20, 33–28, 30–28 | ||
| Pts: Lou Hudson 37 Rebs: Walt Bellamy 12 Asts: Pete Maravich 11 |
Pts: Jo Jo White 23 Rebs: Dave Cowens 18 Asts: Jo Jo White 10 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 8
|
| Boston Celtics 94, Atlanta Hawks 97 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–32, 26–15, 13–30, 31–20 | ||
| Pts: John Havlicek 21 Rebs: Paul Silas 22 Asts: John Havlicek 5 |
Pts: Pete Maravich 37 Rebs: Jim Washington 15 Asts: Herm Gilliam 7 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 11
|
| Atlanta Hawks 101, Boston Celtics 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–30, 26–16, 27–37, 20–25 | ||
| Pts: Pete Maravich 34 Rebs: Walt Bellamy 16 Asts: Herm Gilliam 6 |
Pts: John Havlicek 32 Rebs: Dave Cowens 20 Asts: John Havlicek 11 | |
| Boston leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 13
|
| Boston Celtics 121, Atlanta Hawks 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 35–27, 25–31, 26–26, 35–19 | ||
| Pts: Jo Jo White 33 Rebs: Paul Silas 17 Asts: Jo Jo White 7 |
Pts: Lou Hudson 35 Rebs: Washington, Bellamy 13 each Asts: Bellamy, Gilliam 5 each | |
| Boston wins series, 4–2 | ||
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning four of the first five meetings.
| Boston leads 4–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 30
|
| Baltimore Bullets 83, New York Knicks 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–19, 20–24, 20–27, 18–25 | ||
| Pts: Archie Clark 22 Rebs: Wes Unseld 16 Asts: Archie Clark 6 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 25 Rebs: Frazier, DeBusschere 7 each Asts: Walt Frazier 6 | |
| New York leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 1
|
| Baltimore Bullets 103, New York Knicks 123 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–32, 22–26, 32–29, 24–36 | ||
| Pts: Phil Chenier 27 Rebs: Wes Unseld 14 Asts: Kevin Porter 7 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 29 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 11 Asts: Walt Frazier 13 | |
| New York leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 4
|
| New York Knicks 103, Baltimore Bullets 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–22, 24–24, 25–19, 29–31 | ||
| Pts: Bill Bradley 23 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 11 Asts: Walt Frazier 7 |
Pts: Elvin Hayes 36 Rebs: Elvin Hayes 14 Asts: Riordan, Clark 4 each | |
| New York leads series, 3–0 | ||
April 6
|
| New York Knicks 89, Baltimore Bullets 97 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–22, 25–28, 23–28, 27–19 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 17 Rebs: Willis Reed 8 Asts: DeBusschere, Monroe 4 each |
Pts: Elvin Hayes 34 Rebs: Hayes, Unseld 13 each Asts: Archie Clark 10 | |
| New York leads series, 3–1 | ||
Last Playoff Game played at The Baltimore Civic Center.
April 8
|
| Baltimore Bullets 99, New York Knicks 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–26, 14–28, 31–24, 23–31 | ||
| Pts: Archie Clark 30 Rebs: Wes Unseld 21 Asts: Chenier, Unseld 4 each |
Pts: Earl Monroe 26 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 15 Asts: Walt Frazier 7 | |
| New York wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning three of the previous four meetings.
| New York leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 30
|
| Golden State Warriors 90, Milwaukee Bucks 110 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 22–25, 23–28, 29–34 | ||
| Pts: Rick Barry 22 Rebs: Clyde Lee 10 Asts: Jim Barnett 6 |
Pts: Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson 22 each Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24 Asts: Oscar Robertson 12 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 1
|
| Golden State Warriors 95, Milwaukee Bucks 92 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–20, 20–21, 29–24, 19–27 | ||
| Pts: Cazzie Russell 25 Rebs: Clyde Lee 17 Asts: Walt Hazzard 7 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 15 Asts: five players 3 each | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 5
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 113, Golden State Warriors 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–18, 26–20, 37–23, 29–32 | ||
| Pts: Oscar Robertson 34 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 18 Asts: Oscar Robertson 8 |
Pts: Jeff Mullins 21 Rebs: Clyde Lee 17 Asts: Jeff Mullins 4 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 7
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 97, Golden State Warriors 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–28, 19–26, 26–27, 26–21 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25 Rebs: Perry, Abdul-Jabbar 14 each Asts: Oscar Robertson 7 |
Pts: Rick Barry 38 Rebs: Clyde Lee 21 Asts: Jeff Mullins 6 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 10
|
| Golden State Warriors 100, Milwaukee Bucks 97 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–18, 28–28, 25–27, 18–24 | ||
| Pts: Clyde Lee 21 Rebs: Clyde Lee 18 Asts: Walt Hazzard 5 |
Pts: four players 19 each Rebs: Perry, Abdul-Jabbar 12 each Asts: Oscar Robertson 11 | |
| Golden State leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 13
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 86, Golden State Warriors 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–26, 26–28, 23–22, 20–24 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 14 Asts: Lucius Allen 5 |
Pts: Jim Barnett 26 Rebs: Clyde Lee 19 Asts: Jim Barnett 7 | |
| Golden State wins series, 4–2 | ||
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bucks winning the first two meetings.
| Milwaukee leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 30
|
| Chicago Bulls 104, Los Angeles Lakers 107 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 29–20, 19–30, 25–23, Overtime: 10–13 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 21 Rebs: Dennis Awtrey 15 Asts: Dennis Awtrey 6 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 28 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 20 Asts: Jerry West 9 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 1
|
| Chicago Bulls 93, Los Angeles Lakers 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–21, 19–35, 24–24, 22–28 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 32 Rebs: Chet Walker 11 Asts: Tom Boerwinkle 9 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 33 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 21 Asts: Jerry West 19 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 6
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 86, Chicago Bulls 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–31, 28–21, 22–22, 17–22 | ||
| Pts: Jim McMillian 24 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 18 Asts: Jerry West 13 |
Pts: Chet Walker 30 Rebs: Dennis Awtrey 14 Asts: Norm Van Lier 8 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 8
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 94, Chicago Bulls 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 31–29, 24–23, 18–25 | ||
| Pts: Jim McMillian 25 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 30 Asts: Goodrich, West 5 each |
Pts: Bob Love 38 Rebs: Bob Love 13 Asts: Bob Love 6 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 10
|
| Chicago Bulls 102, Los Angeles Lakers 123 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–26, 34–34, 31–29, 19–34 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 27 Rebs: Bob Love 14 Asts: Awtrey, Van Lier 5 each |
Pts: Jerry West 36 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 29 Asts: Jerry West 11 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 13
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 93, Chicago Bulls 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–26, 27–25, 18–26, 27–24 | ||
| Pts: Jerry West 19 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 26 Asts: Jerry West 5 |
Pts: Jerry Sloan 27 Rebs: Dennis Awtrey 14 Asts: Dennis Awtrey 8 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 15
|
| Chicago Bulls 92, Los Angeles Lakers 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–22, 28–24, 28–26, 14–23 | ||
| Pts: Norm Van Lier 28 Rebs: Norm Van Lier 14 Asts: Bob Love 5 |
Pts: Jerry West 27 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 28 Asts: Jerry West 7 | |
| Los Angeles wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.
| Los Angeles leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
April 15
|
| New York Knicks 108, Boston Celtics 134 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–34, 26–33, 27–34, 25–33 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 24 Rebs: Walt Frazier 7 Asts: Walt Frazier 10 |
Pts: Jo Jo White 30 Rebs: Dave Cowens 15 Asts: John Havlicek 11 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 18
|
| Boston Celtics 96, New York Knicks 129 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–29, 24–31, 19–32, 35–37 | ||
| Pts: John Havlicek 21 Rebs: Dave Cowens 13 Asts: John Havlicek 11 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 24 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 8 Asts: Walt Frazier 10 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 20
|
| New York Knicks 98, Boston Celtics 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–27, 29–19, 23–31, 17–14 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 23 Rebs: DeBusschere, Reed 11 each Asts: Walt Frazier 5 |
Pts: John Havlicek 29 Rebs: Paul Silas 14 Asts: John Havlicek 6 | |
| New York leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 22
|
| Boston Celtics 110, New York Knicks 117 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 28–17, 24–14, 17–33, Overtime: 12–12, 9–16 | ||
| Pts: Jo Jo White 34 Rebs: Paul Silas 23 Asts: Jo Jo White 6 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 37 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 10 Asts: Dean Meminger 7 | |
| New York leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 25
|
| New York Knicks 97, Boston Celtics 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–29, 27–29, 23–23, 22–17 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 21 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 12 Asts: Frazier, DeBusschere 5 each |
Pts: Dave Cowens 32 Rebs: Paul Silas 20 Asts: Jo Jo White 7 | |
| New York leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 27
|
| Boston Celtics 110, New York Knicks 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–21, 29–34, 29–27, 28–18 | ||
| Pts: Dave Cowens 26 Rebs: Dave Cowens 14 Asts: Jo Jo White 7 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 29 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 17 Asts: Bradley, DeBusschere 5 each | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 29
|
| New York Knicks 94, Boston Celtics 78 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 26–18, 27–17, 22–21 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 25 Rebs: Walt Frazier 10 Asts: Dave DeBusschere 8 |
Pts: Dave Cowens 24 Rebs: Paul Silas 16 Asts: Dave Cowens 5 | |
| New York wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with both teams splitting the first eight meetings.
| Tied 4–4 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
April 17
|
| Golden State Warriors 99, Los Angeles Lakers 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–27, 30–23, 22–25, 24–26 | ||
| Pts: Nate Thurmond 22 Rebs: Nate Thurmond 26 Asts: Thurmond, Barnett 5 each |
Pts: Jim McMillian 37 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 25 Asts: Jerry West 8 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 19
|
| Golden State Warriors 93, Los Angeles Lakers 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–28, 20–18, 27–31, 16–27 | ||
| Pts: Rick Barry 29 Rebs: Clyde Lee 18 Asts: Nate Thurmond 6 |
Pts: Jerry West 36 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 30 Asts: Jerry West 6 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 21
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 126, Golden State Warriors 70 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–14, 27–20, 36–16, 37–20 | ||
| Pts: Jim McMillian 28 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 25 Asts: Jerry West 11 |
Pts: Rick Barry 10 Rebs: Clyde Lee 18 Asts: six players 2 each | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 3–0 | ||
April 23
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 109, Golden State Warriors 117 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–31, 26–20, 36–33, 26–33 | ||
| Pts: Jerry West 32 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 16 Asts: Gail Goodrich 7 |
Pts: Cazzie Russell 33 Rebs: Nate Thurmond 18 Asts: Jeff Mullins 7 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 25
|
| Golden State Warriors 118, Los Angeles Lakers 128 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–26, 20–32, 33–42, 35–28 | ||
| Pts: Cazzie Russell 29 Rebs: Nate Thurmond 15 Asts: Thurmond, Mullins 5 each |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 44 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 22 Asts: Jerry West 9 | |
| Los Angeles wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning two of the first three meetings.
| Los Angeles leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
|
Main article: 1973 NBA Finals |
May 1
|
| New York Knicks 112, Los Angeles Lakers 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–29, 23–30, 30–36, 33–20 | ||
| Pts: Dave DeBusschere 25 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 16 Asts: Walt Frazier 8 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 30 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 20 Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 6 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 1–0 | ||
May 3
|
| New York Knicks 99, Los Angeles Lakers 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–23, 26–23, 26–26, 23–23 | ||
| Pts: Bill Bradley 26 Rebs: DeBusschere, Reed 9 each Asts: Bill Bradley 4 |
Pts: Jerry West 32 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 20 Asts: West, Goodrich 5 each | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
May 6
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 83, New York Knicks 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–26, 23–18, 13–25, 23–18 | ||
| Pts: Jim McMillian 22 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 13 Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 5 |
Pts: Willis Reed 22 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 11 Asts: Earl Monroe 6 | |
| New York leads series, 2–1 | ||
May 8
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 98, New York Knicks 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–29, 28–26, 25–27, 29–21 | ||
| Pts: West, Goodrich 23 each Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 19 Asts: Bill Bridges 7 |
Pts: Dave DeBusschere 33 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 14 Asts: Walt Frazier 8 | |
| New York leads series, 3–1 | ||
Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 19,694 Referees: Mendy Rudolph, Darell Garretson |
May 10
|
| New York Knicks 102, Los Angeles Lakers 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–16, 16–25, 32–18, 31–34 | ||
| Pts: Earl Monroe 23 Rebs: Willis Reed 12 Asts: Frazier, Bradley 5 each |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 28 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 21 Asts: Jerry West 4 | |
| New York wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning three of the first four meetings.
| Los Angeles leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|