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 as of 2012, most recent) NBA title. Willis Reed became the first player to 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. L.A. returned in 1980; New York waited until 1994.
Bracket
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Conference Semifinals |
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Conference Finals |
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NBA Finals |
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1 |
Milwaukee |
2 |
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4 |
Golden State |
4 |
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4 |
Golden State |
1 |
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Western Conference |
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2 |
L.A. Lakers |
4 |
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3 |
Chicago |
3 |
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2 |
L.A. Lakers |
4 |
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W2 |
L.A. Lakers |
1 |
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E2 |
New York |
4 |
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1 |
Boston |
4 |
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4 |
Atlanta |
2 |
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1 |
Boston |
3 |
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Eastern Conference |
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2 |
New York |
4 |
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3 |
Baltimore |
1 |
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2 |
New York |
4 |
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Western Conference
Conference Semifinals
(1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (4) Golden State Warriors
| Golden State Warriors 90, Milwaukee Bucks 110
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| Golden State Warriors 95, Milwaukee Bucks 92
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| Milwaukee Bucks 113, Golden State Warriors 93
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| Milwaukee Bucks 97, Golden State Warriors 102
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| Golden State Warriors 100, Milwaukee Bucks 97
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| Milwaukee Bucks 86, Golden State Warriors 100
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| Golden State wins series, 4-2 |
Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Western Conference Semifinals (Milwaukee won 4-1)
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Chicago Bulls
| Chicago Bulls 104, Los Angeles Lakers 107
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| Chicago Bulls 93, Los Angeles Lakers 108
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| Los Angeles Lakers 86, Chicago Bulls 96
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| Los Angeles Lakers 94, Chicago Bulls 98
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| Chicago Bulls 102, Los Angeles Lakers 123
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| Los Angeles Lakers 93, Chicago Bulls 101
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| Chicago Bulls 92, Los Angeles Lakers 95
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| Los Angeles wins series, 4-3 |
Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Western Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles won 4-0)
Conference Finals
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Golden State Warriors
| Golden State Warriors 99, Los Angeles Lakers 101
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| Golden State Warriors 94, Los Angeles Lakers 104
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| Los Angeles Lakers 126, Golden State Warriors 70
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| Los Angeles Lakers 109, Golden State Warriors 117
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| Golden State Warriors 118, Los Angeles Lakers 128
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| Los Angeles wins series, 4-1 |
Last Playoff Meeting: 1969 Western Division Semifinals (Los Angeles beat San Francisco 4-2)
Eastern Conference
Conference Semifinals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Atlanta Hawks
| Atlanta Hawks 109, Boston Celtics 134
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| Boston Celtics 126, Atlanta Hawks 113
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| Atlanta Hawks 118, Boston Celtics 105
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| Boston Celtics 94, Atlanta Hawks 97
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| Atlanta Hawks 101, Boston Celtics 108
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| Boston Celtics 121, Atlanta Hawks 108
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| Boston wins series, 4-2 |
Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Boston won 4-2)
(2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Washington Bullets
| Baltimore Bullets 83, New York Knicks 95
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| Baltimore Bullets 103, New York Knicks 123
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| New York Knicks 103, Baltimore Bullets 96
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| New York Knicks 89, Baltimore Bullets 97
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| Baltimore Bullets 99, New York Knicks 109
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| New York wins series, 4-1 |
Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Eastern Conference Semifinals (New York won 4-2)
Conference Finals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) New York Knicks
| New York Knicks 108, Boston Celtics 134
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| Scoring by quarter: 30-34, 26-33, 27-34, 25-33 |
| Pts: Walt Frazier 24 |
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Pts: Jo Jo White 30 |
| Boston Celtics 96, New York Knicks 129
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| New York Knicks 98, Boston Celtics 91
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| Boston Celtics 110, New York Knicks 117
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| New York Knicks 97, Boston Celtics 98
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| Boston Celtics 110, New York Knicks 100
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| New York Knicks 94, Boston Celtics 78
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| New York wins series, 4-3 |
Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Eastern Conference Finals (New York won 4-1)
NBA Finals: (E2) New York Knicks vs. (W2) Los Angeles Lakers
| New York Knicks 112, Los Angeles Lakers 115
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| New York Knicks 99, Los Angeles Lakers 95
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| Los Angeles Lakers 83, New York Knicks 87
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| Los Angeles Lakers 98, New York Knicks 103
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| New York Knicks 102, Los Angeles Lakers 93
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| New York wins series, 4-1 |
Wilt Chamberlain’s final NBA game
Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 NBA Finals (Los Angeles won 4-1)
References
External links
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