1973 NBA Playoffs

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

	Conference Semifinals					Conference Finals					NBA Finals
	1	Milwaukee	2
	4	Golden State	4
						4	Golden State	1
	Western Conference
						2	L.A. Lakers	4
	3	Chicago	3
	2	L.A. Lakers	4
											W2	L.A. Lakers	1
											E2	New York	4
	1	Boston	4
	4	Atlanta	2
						1	Boston	3
	Eastern Conference
						2	New York	4
	3	Baltimore	1
	2	New York	4

Western Conference

Conference Semifinals

(1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (4) Golden State Warriors

Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Western Conference Semifinals (Milwaukee won 4-1)

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Chicago Bulls

Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Western Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles won 4-0)

Conference Finals

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Golden State Warriors

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

Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Boston won 4-2)

(2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Washington Bullets

Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Eastern Conference Semifinals (New York won 4-2)

Conference Finals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) New York Knicks

Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 Eastern Conference Finals (New York won 4-1)

NBA Finals: (E2) New York Knicks vs. (W2) Los Angeles Lakers

Wilt Chamberlain’s final NBA game Last Playoff Meeting: 1972 NBA Finals (Los Angeles won 4-1)

References

External links

• Basketball-Reference.com's 1973 NBA Playoffs page

NBA playoffs List of NBA Playoffs series Conference Finals Finals 60 Greatest Playoff Moments Game sevens Streaks Droughts Records Scoring Leaders Assists Leaders 3 Pt Leaders Rebound Leaders WNBA Playoffs 1940s 1947 1948 1949 1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

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