1972–73 NBA season
| 1972–73 NBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Number of games | 82 |
| Number of teams | 17 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | Dave Cowens (Boston) |
| Top scorer | Nate Archibald (Kansas City–Omaha) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | New York Knicks |
| Eastern runners-up | Boston Celtics |
| Western champions | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Western runners-up | Golden State Warriors |
| Finals | |
| Champions | New York Knicks |
| Runners-up | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Finals MVP | Willis Reed (New York) |
The 1972–73 NBA season was the 27th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the New York Knicks winning the NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.
This season began in the wake of the remarkable victory of the Los Angeles Lakers, who ended an agonizing decade of runner-up finishes with their first NBA title on the West Coast. It was also the first Laker title since George Mikan over fifteen years previous. That title had come after a tremendous Western Conference Finals with Milwaukee and their superstar center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the former title-winning Lew Alcindor. Their rematch in the playoffs figured to decide the next championship just as it had the last two. The East, clearly the dominant half of the league for so long, looked to be the weaker half again at the start of this season as they had the last two years.
It was the East that provided the season's top record. The Boston Celtics won 68 of 82 NBA games, one of the greatest records in history, two more than Milwaukee two years ago, and just one less than Los Angeles last year. The new Celtics were a year older and bolder with young star Dave Cowens at center and point guard Jo Jo White. Cowens was the team's anchor at center, third in the league in both rebounds and minutes played while scoring 20.5 points per game. A physical, active defender as well, Cowens made NBA observers marvel at his energy level and intensity. At 6' 9, he cast a huge presence for his team. Longtime star John Havlicek was still the team's leader, leading the team in scoring, assists and steals. Along with Cowens up front, Boston had tabbed Paul Silas from Phoenix to take the load off of "Hondo" inside. The results included more shots tried and made, more rebounds and more assists than any other NBA team this season.
In the East, Boston drew an Atlanta team with 46 wins, led again by high scorers Lou Hudson and Pete Maravich, who scored 29.7 and 26.2 points per game respectively. Richie Guerin was again the coach with the small rotation of minutes. Deeper Boston jumped on them big early on to win the series four games to two.
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