1972–73 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1972–73 NBA season was the Lakers' 25th season in the NBA and 13th season in Los Angeles.[1]

1972–73 Los Angeles Lakers season
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coachBill Sharman
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record60–22 (.732)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(Lost to Knicks 1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Coming off winning the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks in five games, their sixth NBA Championship, and posting the longest winning streak in NBA history at 33 straight victories, the Lakers hoped to continue their success. However, even though the Lakers managed to make to the NBA Finals again for the third consecutive time, they once again met the New York Knicks for also the third consecutive time, against the team that they defeated in last season's NBA Finals as well as were defeated by in the season before's NBA Finals. Just like the season before last season, they were swiftly defeated in five games by the Knicks.

Following the season, Wilt Chamberlain retired.

Offseason

Draft picks
Main article: 1972 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
2 16 Jim Price Guard  United States Louisville

Roster
Roster listing
1972-73 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
F 32 Bridges, Bill 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1939-04-04 Kansas
C 30 Brown, Roger 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1950-02-23 Kansas
C 13 Chamberlain, Wilt 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1936-08-21 Kansas
C 31 Counts, Mel 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1941-10-16 Oregon State
F 24 Erickson, Keith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1944-04-19 UCLA
G 25 Goodrich, Gail 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1943-04-23 UCLA
F 33 Grant, Travis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1950-01-01 Kentucky State
F 52 Hairston, Happy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1942-05-31 New York
F 5 McMillian, Jim 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1948-03-11 Columbia
G 15 Price, Jim 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1949-11-27 Louisville
G 12 Riley, Pat 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1945-03-20 Kentucky
F 30 Turner, Bill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1944-02-18 Akron
G 44 West, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1938-05-28 West Virginia
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster
Last transaction: 2013-03-22

Regular season

The defending champion Lakers returned intact, albeit another year older. They staged another season long battle for best record in the Western Conference with the Milwaukee Bucks. Both teams ended up with 60–22 records and they split their regular season matchups, winning three games apiece. At the time, the NBA had no tiebreaking formula beyond head to head record. In a special league meeting, they attempted to schedule a tiebreaking game between the two teams. However, the players' union intervened and demanded the players be paid an extra 1/82 share of the salaries; the owners objected so ultimately the tie was broken by a coin flip, which was won by Milwaukee.

Season standings
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6022.732–30–1128–112–022–4
x-Golden State Warriors 4735.5731327–1418–202–114–12
Phoenix Suns 3844.4632222–1915–251–014–12
Seattle SuperSonics 2656.3173416–2510–290–29–17
Portland Trail Blazers 2161.2563913–288–320–16–20
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Milwaukee Bucks6022.732
2 y-Los Angeles Lakers6022.732
3 x-Chicago Bulls5131.622
4 x-Golden State Warriors4735.573
5 Detroit Pistons4042.488
6 Phoenix Suns3844.463
7 Kansas City–Omaha Kings3646.439
8 Seattle SuperSonics2656.317
9 Portland Trail Blazers2161.256
z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1972–73 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCO LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SEA
Atlanta —3–41–55–12–23–42–21–34–42–23–11–33–36–03–14–03–1
Baltimore 4–3—1–55–10–48–02–23–15–23–11–32–23–35–12–24–04–0
Boston 5–15–1—7–03–15–13–13–15–13–14–02–24–47–04–04–04–0
Buffalo 1–51–50–7—2–21–51–30–41–51–30–40–41–67–11–32–22–2
Chicago 2–24–01–32–2—3–13–43–34–05–21–52–43–14–04–25–15–1
Cleveland 4–30–81–55–11–3—1–31–34–32–21–31–30–66–01–31–33–1
Detroit 2–22–21–33–14–33–1—2–41–33–31–52–51–33–14–26–02–4
Golden State 3–11–31–34–03–33–14–2—3–14–23–41–52–24–02–45–14–3
Houston 4–42–51–55–10–43–43–11–3—0–41–31–31–55–12–22–22–2
Kansas City-Omaha 2–21–31–33–12–52–23–32–44–0—1–51–60–43–13–34–24–2
Los Angeles 1–33–10–44–05–13–15–14–33–15–1—3–32–24–06–16–06–0
Milwaukee 3–12–22–24–04–23–15–25–13–16–13–3—2–23–15–15–15–1
New York 3–33–34–46–11–36–03–12–25–14–02–22–2—6–13–13–14–0
Philadelphia 0–61–50–71–70–40–61–30–41–51–30–41–31–6—0–41–31–3
Phoenix 1–32–20–43–12–43–12–44–22–23–31–61–51–34–0—5–24–2
Portland 0–40–40–42–21–53–10–61–52–22–40–61–51–33–12–5—3–4
Seattle 1–30–40–42–21–51–34–23–42–22–40–61–50–43–12–44–3—

Game log
1972–73 game log
October
November
December
January
February
March
1972–73 schedule

Playoffs

West Conference Semifinals

The Lakers faced a strong, veteran Chicago Bulls team for the third straight season in the playoffs. The Lakers had defeated the Bulls in seven games in 1971 and in a four-game sweep in 1972. The Lakers prevailed in a closely battled seven game series, overcoming a double digit deficit in the 4th quarter of game 7. Wilt Chamberlain later stated that he felt the Bulls deserved to win the series.

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Chicago Bulls: Lakers win series 4–3

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 107, Chicago 104 (OT)
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 108, Chicago 93
  • Game 3 @ Chicago: Chicago 96, Los Angeles 86
  • Game 4 @ Chicago: Chicago 98, Los Angeles 94
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 123, Chicago 102
  • Game 6 @ Chicago: Chicago 101, Los Angeles 93
  • Game 7 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 95, Chicago 92

West Conference Finals

The Lakers had expected to face the Bucks for a third straight post season, but the Warriors upset Milwaukee in six games. The series lacked any real drama except for game 1. Late in the first half, Warriors star Rick Barry was low bridged and fell hard on the floor and appeared to suffer a significant back injury. But he returned in the second half to spark a Warriors come back that fell just short in a Lakers' 101–99 win.

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Golden State Warriors: Lakers win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 101, Golden State 99
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 104, Golden State 93
  • Game 3 @ Golden State: Los Angeles 126, Golden State 70
  • Game 4 @ Golden State: Golden State 117, Los Angeles 109
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 128, Golden State 118

NBA Finals

The Knicks took advantage of John Havlicek's shoulder injury to upset the 68-win Boston Celtics in the eastern conference finals. This finals was an exact reversal of the previous years' finals that saw the Lakers lose game 1 and then win the next four games.

(W2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (E2) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 115, New York 112
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: New York 99, Los Angeles 95
  • Game 3 @ New York: New York 87, Los Angeles 83
  • Game 4 @ New York: New York 103, Los Angeles 98
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles: New York 102, Los Angeles 93

Awards and records

References
  1. 1972–73 Los Angeles Lakers
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