| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 29–May 12, 1974 |
| Season | 1973–74 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Boston Celtics (12th title) |
| Runner-up | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1974 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1973-74 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. John Havlicek was named NBA Finals MVP.
It was the Celtics' twelfth NBA title, and first accomplished in the post-Bill Russell era. It was the last Finals appearance for Milwaukee until 2021.
This Is The Last Postseason with only 3 rounds and using 8 team, The 1975 NBA Playoffs added a First Round and the round is 4 and expanded to 10.
Using the revised playoff format adopted in 1973, two third-place teams (Buffalo in the East, Detroit in the West) qualified for the playoffs, while the second-place finishers in the Central (Atlanta) and Pacific (Golden State) divisions did not. Also, since the top three Western qualifiers were in the Midwest Division, the two divisional champions in the Western Conference (Milwaukee and Los Angeles) played in the conference semifinals.
With a 4–3 series victory over the Pistons in the first round, the Bulls earned their first playoff series victory. In their first eight years of existence, the Bulls made the playoffs seven times.
As a matter of historical curiosity, 3 of the 4 teams in the 1974 Western Conference bracket (Milwaukee, Detroit and Chicago) now reside in the Eastern Conference.
This was the only appearance of the Capital Bullets in the playoffs under that moniker; they assumed the "Capital" name for one year before changing to the Washington Bullets the next season. It was the playoff debut of the Buffalo Braves, who had joined the league in 1970.
For the first time in BAA/NBA history (dating back to 1947), neither the Lakers (of Minnesota, then Los Angeles) or Warriors (of Philadelphia, then San Francisco and Golden State) participated in a conference (or division prior to 1971) finals series.
| Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Buffalo | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Capital* | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Milwaukee* | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Milwaukee* | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Los Angeles* | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Milwaukee* | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Chicago | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Detroit | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Chicago | 4 | ||||||||||||
March 30
|
| Buffalo Braves 97, Boston Celtics 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–20, 19–21, 31–28, 16–38 | ||
| Pts: Bob McAdoo 29 Rebs: Gar Heard 20 Asts: Ernie DiGregorio 8 |
Pts: Jo Jo White 24 Rebs: Dave Cowens 18 Asts: John Havlicek 12 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 2
|
| Boston Celtics 105, Buffalo Braves 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–31, 30–20, 27–32, 29–32 | ||
| Pts: Jo Jo White 27 Rebs: Dave Cowens 16 Asts: John Havlicek 7 |
Pts: Bob McAdoo 23 Rebs: Bob McAdoo 20 Asts: Ernie DiGregorio 12 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 3
|
| Buffalo Braves 107, Boston Celtics 120 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–39, 31–27, 29–30, 25–24 | ||
| Pts: Bob McAdoo 38 Rebs: Gar Heard 13 Asts: Ernie DiGregorio 8 |
Pts: John Havlicek 43 Rebs: Dave Cowens 19 Asts: John Havlicek 8 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 6
|
| Boston Celtics 102, Buffalo Braves 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–22, 26–29, 26–21, 28–32 | ||
| Pts: Don Nelson 24 Rebs: Dave Cowens 14 Asts: John Havlicek 8 |
Pts: Bob McAdoo 44 Rebs: Jim McMillian 18 Asts: Ernie DiGregorio 11 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 9
|
| Buffalo Braves 97, Boston Celtics 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–25, 20–23, 20–23, 26–29 | ||
| Pts: Randy Smith 25 Rebs: Gar Heard 16 Asts: Ernie DiGregorio 4 |
Pts: John Havlicek 25 Rebs: Dave Cowens 12 Asts: Art Williams 8 | |
| Boston leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 12
|
| Boston Celtics 106, Buffalo Braves 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–26, 33–28, 34–28, 19–22 | ||
| Pts: John Havlicek 30 Rebs: Dave Cowens 17 Asts: John Havlicek 7 |
Pts: Bob McAdoo 40 Rebs: McAdoo, Heard 15 each Asts: Ernie DiGregorio 9 | |
| Boston wins series, 4–2 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[1]
March 29
|
| Capital Bullets 91, New York Knicks 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–20, 16–29, 22–25, 27–28 | ||
| Pts: Elvin Hayes 40 Rebs: Elvin Hayes 14 Asts: Hayes, Porter 4 each |
Pts: Walt Frazier 20 Rebs: Walt Frazier 12 Asts: Dave DeBusschere 7 | |
| New York leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 31
|
| New York Knicks 87, Capital Bullets 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–25, 18–25, 22–20, 21–29 | ||
| Pts: Dave DeBusschere 20 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 10 Asts: Jerry Lucas 5 |
Pts: Phil Chenier 35 Rebs: Elvin Hayes 21 Asts: Kevin Porter 7 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 2
|
| Capital Bullets 88, New York Knicks 79 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 21–23, 26–13, 18–22 | ||
| Pts: Kevin Porter 22 Rebs: Elvin Hayes 13 Asts: Kevin Porter 5 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 20 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 12 Asts: DeBusschere, Meminger 5 each | |
| Capital leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 5
|
| New York Knicks 101, Capital Bullets 93 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–30, 24–24, 15–22, 19–11, Overtime: 14–6 | ||
| Pts: Earl Monroe 23 Rebs: Walt Frazier 11 Asts: Walt Frazier 6 |
Pts: Hayes, Porter 20 each Rebs: Elvin Hayes 17 Asts: Kevin Porter 7 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 7
|
| Capital Bullets 105, New York Knicks 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–28, 24–27, 26–22, 27–29 | ||
| Pts: Elvin Hayes 27 Rebs: Wes Unseld 12 Asts: Wes Unseld 8 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 38 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 8 Asts: Walt Frazier 4 | |
| New York leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 10
|
| New York Knicks 92, Capital Bullets 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 19–24, 23–24, 25–41 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 25 Rebs: Phil Jackson 8 Asts: Walt Frazier 10 |
Pts: Elvin Hayes 31 Rebs: Elvin Hayes 23 Asts: Wes Unseld 5 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 12
|
| Capital Bullets 81, New York Knicks 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–29, 31–24, 10–16, 20–22 | ||
| Pts: Phil Chenier 21 Rebs: Phil Chenier 14 Asts: Elvin Hayes 5 |
Pts: Earl Monroe 30 Rebs: DeBusschere, Gianelli 15 each Asts: Dave DeBusschere 7 | |
| New York wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning four of the previous five meetings.
| New York leads 4–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 29
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 95, Milwaukee Bucks 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–23, 23–24, 28–24, 18–28 | ||
| Pts: Gail Goodrich 31 Rebs: Connie Hawkins 14 Asts: Gail Goodrich 6 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 35 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21 Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 31
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 90, Milwaukee Bucks 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–29, 25–21, 14–27, 28–32 | ||
| Pts: Gail Goodrich 21 Rebs: Happy Hairston 10 Asts: Happy Hairston 7 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25 Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 2
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 96, Los Angeles Lakers 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–29, 31–23, 21–29, 20–17 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 29 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 15 Asts: Oscar Robertson 16 |
Pts: Elmore Smith 30 Rebs: Elmore Smith 17 Asts: Gail Goodrich 12 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 4
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 112, Los Angeles Lakers 90 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–21, 22–18, 34–14, 26–37 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 16 Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 |
Pts: Elmore Smith 20 Rebs: Elmore Smith 13 Asts: Connie Hawkins 5 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 7
|
| Los Angeles Lakers 92, Milwaukee Bucks 114 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–33, 12–18, 26–36, 38–27 | ||
| Pts: Gail Goodrich 22 Rebs: Happy Hairston 11 Asts: Gail Goodrich 6 |
Pts: Ron Williams 22 Rebs: Cornell Warner 17 Asts: Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson 8 each | |
| Milwaukee wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with both teams splitting the prior two meetings.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 30
|
| Detroit Pistons 97, Chicago Bulls 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–16, 22–22, 20–27, 26–23 | ||
| Pts: Bob Lanier 27 Rebs: Lanier, Rowe 13 each Asts: Don Adams 6 |
Pts: Jerry Sloan 24 Rebs: Sloan, Ray 10 each Asts: Norm Van Lier 6 | |
| Detroit leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 1
|
| Chicago Bulls 108, Detroit Pistons 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–27, 23–22, 29–28, 29–26 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 38 Rebs: Clifford Ray 11 Asts: Norm Van Lier 9 |
Pts: Bob Lanier 38 Rebs: Bob Lanier 19 Asts: Dave Bing 7 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 5
|
| Detroit Pistons 83, Chicago Bulls 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–13, 23–29, 19–27, 24–15 | ||
| Pts: Dave Bing 23 Rebs: Bob Lanier 16 Asts: Lanier, Rowe 2 each |
Pts: Chet Walker 21 Rebs: Jerry Sloan 14 Asts: Norm Van Lier 5 | |
| Chicago leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 7
|
| Chicago Bulls 87, Detroit Pistons 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–22, 19–25, 21–35, 22–20 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 23 Rebs: Clifford Ray 9 Asts: Norm Van Lier 9 |
Pts: Bob Lanier 26 Rebs: Bob Lanier 18 Asts: Dave Bing 8 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 9
|
| Detroit Pistons 94, Chicago Bulls 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–28, 26–29, 23–18, 31–23 | ||
| Pts: Bob Lanier 23 Rebs: Bob Lanier 17 Asts: Dave Bing 6 |
Pts: Bob Love 32 Rebs: Jerry Sloan 17 Asts: Norm Van Lier 4 | |
| Chicago leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 11
|
| Chicago Bulls 88, Detroit Pistons 92 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–15, 19–25, 23–24, 24–28 | ||
| Pts: Chet Walker 33 Rebs: Clifford Ray 15 Asts: Norm Van Lier 10 |
Pts: Bob Lanier 28 Rebs: Bob Lanier 14 Asts: Dave Bing 10 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 13
|
| Detroit Pistons 94, Chicago Bulls 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–25, 23–27, 30–28, 23–16 | ||
| Pts: Stu Lantz 25 Rebs: Lanier, Rowe 10 each Asts: Stu Lantz 5 |
Pts: Chet Walker 26 Rebs: Clifford Ray 15 Asts: Bob Weiss 5 | |
| Chicago wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[4]
April 14
|
| New York Knicks 88, Boston Celtics 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–21, 23–30, 23–32, 26–30 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 16 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 10 Asts: Meminger, Bibby 3 each |
Pts: John Havlicek 25 Rebs: Dave Cowens 13 Asts: John Havlicek 12 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 16
|
| Boston Celtics 111, New York Knicks 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 33–25, 20–35, 33–14, 25–25 | ||
| Pts: John Havlicek 27 Rebs: Dave Cowens 18 Asts: Jo Jo White 6 |
Pts: Bill Bradley 20 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 9 Asts: Walt Frazier 4 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 19
|
| New York Knicks 103, Boston Celtics 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–18, 31–26, 31–23, 19–33 | ||
| Pts: Walt Frazier 38 Rebs: Frazier, Gianelli 10 each Asts: Walt Frazier 4 |
Pts: Dave Cowens 28 Rebs: Dave Cowens 22 Asts: Art Williams 5 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 21
|
| Boston Celtics 98, New York Knicks 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–32, 23–18, 24–23, 23–18 | ||
| Pts: John Havlicek 36 Rebs: Paul Silas 14 Asts: Jo Jo White 9 |
Pts: Walt Frazier 25 Rebs: John Gianelli 9 Asts: Earl Monroe 5 | |
| Boston leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 24
|
| New York Knicks 94, Boston Celtics 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–21, 32–24, 27–35, 15–25 | ||
| Pts: Phil Jackson 27 Rebs: Phil Jackson 9 Asts: Walt Frazier 6 |
Pts: John Havlicek 33 Rebs: Dave Cowens 14 Asts: John Havlicek 5 | |
| Boston wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the 10th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning five of the previous nine meetings.
| New York leads 5–4 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
April 16
|
| Chicago Bulls 85, Milwaukee Bucks 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–21, 24–28, 21–32, 22–20 | ||
| Pts: Norm Van Lier 26 Rebs: Bob Love 10 Asts: Norm Van Lier 10 |
Pts: Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge 25 each Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 19 Asts: Oscar Robertson 10 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 18
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 113, Chicago Bulls 111 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–29, 32–22, 29–26, 22–34 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 44 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21 Asts: Oscar Robertson 8 |
Pts: Norm Van Lier 27 Rebs: Clifford Ray 15 Asts: Norm Van Lier 7 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 20
|
| Chicago Bulls 90, Milwaukee Bucks 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–26, 19–27, 25–30, 24–30 | ||
| Pts: Bob Love 30 Rebs: Clifford Ray 15 Asts: Clifford Ray 6 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 14 Asts: Oscar Robertson 12 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 3–0 | ||
April 22
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 115, Chicago Bulls 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 28–32, 29–16, 38–31 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24 Asts: Oscar Robertson 10 |
Pts: Bob Love 32 Rebs: Love, Ray 8 each Asts: Norm Van Lier 7 | |
| Milwaukee wins series, 4–0 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[6]
|
Main article: 1974 NBA Finals |
April 28
|
| Boston Celtics 98, Milwaukee Bucks 83 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 35–19, 17–23, 17–19, 29–22 | ||
| Pts: John Havlicek 26 Rebs: Dave Cowens 17 Asts: Cowens, White 7 each |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 35 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 14 Asts: Oscar Robertson 8 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 30
|
| Boston Celtics 96, Milwaukee Bucks 105 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–23, 17–32, 25–22, 24–13, Overtime: 6–15 | ||
| Pts: Jo Jo White 25 Rebs: Dave Cowens 11 Asts: Dave Cowens 6 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 36 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 15 Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
May 3
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 83, Boston Celtics 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–32, 24–19, 22–26, 24–18 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar, Warner 10 each Asts: Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson 5 each |
Pts: Dave Cowens 30 Rebs: John Havlicek 12 Asts: Jo Jo White 8 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–1 | ||
May 5
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 97, Boston Celtics 89 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–27, 21–12, 21–26, 27–24 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 34 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 14 Asts: Oscar Robertson 9 |
Pts: John Havlicek 33 Rebs: Paul Silas 12 Asts: Jo Jo White 9 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
May 7
|
| Boston Celtics 96, Milwaukee Bucks 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–15, 25–29, 24–17, 27–26 | ||
| Pts: Havlicek, Cowens 28 each Rebs: Paul Silas 16 Asts: Dave Cowens 6 |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 37 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 11 Asts: Jon McGlocklin 8 | |
| Boston leads series, 3–2 | ||
May 10
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 102, Boston Celtics 101 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–19, 20–21, 22–23, 17–23, Overtime: 4–4, 12–11 | ||
| Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 34 Rebs: four players 8 each Asts: Oscar Robertson 10 |
Pts: John Havlicek 36 Rebs: Havlicek, Silas 9 each Asts: Jo Jo White 11 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
May 12
|
| Boston Celtics 102, Milwaukee Bucks 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–20, 31–20, 18–26, 31–21 | ||
| Pts: Dave Cowens 28 Rebs: Dave Cowens 14 Asts: Havlicek, Westphal 6 each |
Pts: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26 Rebs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 13 Asts: Oscar Robertson 11 | |
| Boston wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[7]