1972 NBA Finals
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| Dates | April 26–May 7 | |||||||||
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| MVP |
Wilt Chamberlain (Los Angeles Lakers) |
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| Television | ABC (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson and Bill Russell | |||||||||
| Radio network |
KABC (LAL) WOR (NYK) |
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| Announcers |
Chick Hearn and Lynn Shackelford (LAL) Marv Albert (NYK) |
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| Referees | ||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Knicks: Bill Bradley (1983) Jerry Lucas (1980) Dave DeBusschere (1983) Willis Reed (1982) Phil Jackson (2007, coach) Earl Monroe (1990) Walt Frazier (1987) Lakers: Elgin Baylor (1977, Did not play (Retired after first nine games of 1971–1972 season)) Wilt Chamberlain (1979) Gail Goodrich (1996) Pat Riley (2008, coach) Jerry West (1980) Coaches: Red Holzman (1986) Bill Sharman (1976, player/2004, coach) |
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| Eastern Finals | Knicks defeat Celtics, 4–1 | |||||||||
| Western Finals | Lakers defeat Bucks, 4–2 | |||||||||
| Game 2: | Mendy Rudolph, Jack Madden |
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| Game 4: | Jake O'Donnell |
| Game 5: | Richie Powers, Jack Madden, Ed Rush (Alternate) |
The 1972 NBA Finals was the championship series played at the conclusion of the 1971–72 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks in five games. The Los Angeles Lakers got their first NBA championship since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis. This season's edition of the Los Angeles Lakers had won an NBA-record 69 regular season games, including 33 wins in a row. They were led by Wilt Chamberlain, the NBA's top rebounder that season. Guards Gail Goodrich and Jerry West were each among the NBA's top ten scorers that season, spearheading the NBA's top offense at 121 points per game. West also led the NBA in assists. The Lakers as a team led all NBA teams in rebounds and assists that season.
Los Angeles had swept a solid 57-win Chicago Bulls team in the playoff's opening round, then defeated the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks (record of 63-19) in six games to win the Western Conference. That historic series had matched Chamberlain against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and West against Oscar Robertson. Having defeated tough Milwaukee, 48-win New York figured to be an easy formality for the Lakers.
New York was a top defensive team that allowed just 98.2 points per game and made 47% of their shots as a team. They had defeated the 38-win Baltimore Bullets and then upset the 56-win Boston Celtics to win the Eastern Conference final.
Although without Willis Reed because of his knee injury, Jerry Lucas scored 26 points on 13 of 21 shooting to lead the win in the series opener. The 6'9 center was an excellent outside shooter. Chamberlain would not pursue Lucas far from the basket and preferred to position for rebounds instead. The intelligent Lucas exploited this fact. But Lucas was not the only Knick who was red hot. Bill Bradley hit 11 of 12 shots from the field as New York shot 53 percent as a team for the game. The team took advantage of a nearly perfect first half to jump to a good lead and won easily, 114-92. New York hit 16 of their first 20 shots and led after each quarter. The win was considered a surprising upset. Dave DeBusschere added 19 points and 18 rebounds. Walt Frazier triple-doubled with 14 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds. The high-scoring Lakers backcourt of Jerry West and Gail Goodrich shot a cold 11 of 37, and no Los Angeles players took up their slack. Seventeen thousand five-hundred and five fans saw the game, which was held in Los Angeles.
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