1974–75 Indiana Pacers season

ABA professional basketball team season March 2026 August 2023 Indiana Pacers ABA 1975 45 39 3rd 3rd Bobby Leonard Market Square Arena WTTV 4 WIBC ABA Finals(lost to Colonels 1–4) IND The 1974–75 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's eighth season both as a team and in the American Basketball Association.1974-75 Indiana Pacers This would also become their last season with a majority of their championship core group of players remaining on their team, as the Pacers would trade Mel Daniels and Roger Brown to the Memphis Sounds before the start of the season, though they would be able to get Brown back onto the team before the end of the season through a trade with the Utah Stars. Due to their earlier trade with the Sounds, the Pacers would record a worse record this season than the previous season, though would still make it to the 1975 ABA Playoffs as a third place team in the Western Division in what turned out to be the final season to have divisions in the ABA. Despite the worst regular season finish, the Pacers would not only beat the San Antonio Spurs, but also the Denver Nuggets to reach the ABA Finals for the fifth time in seven years, though they would ultimately lose the championship round to the nearby-rivaling Kentucky Colonels 4–1. This marked the last ABA Finals appearance for Indiana in this league. The next Finals appearance for the Pacers would be in the 2000 NBA Finals, 24 years after their establishment in that league. They would later reach the NBA Finals once again a quarter-century after that in 2025, though ultimately lose that series in a heartbreaking manner to the Oklahoma City Thunder 4–3 following a serious injury involving point guard Tyrese Haliburton. ABA Draft 1974 ABA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 6 Billy Knight SG/SF USA United States Pittsburgh 2 16 Bruce King G USA United States Pan American College 3 26 Roland Grant C USA United States New Mexico State 5 46 Eddie Woods C USA United States Oral Roberts 6 56 Ron deVries C USA United States Illinois State 7 66 Alex English SF USA United States South Carolina 8 76 Bob Florence G USA United States UNLV 9 86 Kevin Fitzgerald G USA United States Oklahoma State 10 96 Mark Brown F USA United States Missouri Western State This draft table does not include the "ABA Draft of NBA Players" that was done immediately afterward. ABA Draft of NBA Players Round Pick Player Position Nationality College NBA Team 1 6 Clifford Ray PF/C USA United States Oklahoma Chicago Bulls 2 16 Bill Bradley SF USA United States Princeton New York Knicks 3 26 Mel Counts PF/C USA United States Oregon State Los Angeles Lakers 4 36 Pat Riley SG USA United States Kentucky Los Angeles Lakers 5 46 Jim Davis PF/C USA United States Colorado Detroit Pistons The "ABA Draft of NBA Players" that was done on April 17, 1974, happened immediately after the actual ABA Draft done for this season was concluded on that day. None of the five players drafted by the Pacers would report to the team this season. Following this draft's conclusion, both Bill Bradley and Pat Riley would eventually end up becoming members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, though Riley would make it more for his head coaching prowess (with a potential second induction for his work as a general manager and later executive for teams) over anything else. Roster Indiana Pacers 1974–75 #0032A0 #FEDD00 #FEDD00 #0032A0 1 Roger Brown basketball, born 1942 SF 6 5 205 May 22, 1942 Dayton 10 Don Buse PG 6 4 190 August 10, 1950 University of Evansville 35 Charles Edge basketball SF 6 6 210 February 23, 1950 LeMoyne-Owen College 41 Len Elmore C 6 9 March 28, 1952 220 Maryland 20 Darnell Hillman PF 6 9 215 August 29, 1949 San Jose State 43 Kevin Joyce basketball SG 6 3 190 June 27, 1951 University of South Carolina 11 Billy Keller SG 5 10 177 August 30, 1947 Purdue 25 Billy Knight SF 6 6 195 June 9, 1952 Pittsburgh 30 George McGinnis PF 6 8 235 August 12, 1950 Indiana 24 Bob Netolicky PF 6 9 220 August 2, 1942 Drake 4 Johnny Neumann SG 6 6 200 September 11, 1951 Ole Miss 6 Wayne Pack PG 6 0 165 July 5, 1950 Tennessee Technological University Bobby Leonard https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/INA/1975.html<noinclude> Player notes Roger Brown retired after this season. After leading the Pacers to the finals, George McGinnis decided to jump to the NBA to the Philadelphia 76ers, who held his original NBA draft rights. Regular season standings Western Division Team W L Pct.Denver Nuggets6519.774San Antonio Spurs5133.607Indiana Pacers4539.536Utah Stars3846.452San Diego Conquistadors3153.369 ABA Playoffs ABA Western Division Semifinalshttp://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1975Playoffs.html 1974-75 ABA Regular Season Standings Remembertheaba.com 2016-07-03 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20091103015405/http://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1975Playoffs.html 2009-11-03 Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 5 San Antonio 122–119 (OT) 1–0 8,529 2 April 7 San Antonio 98–93 2–0 7,643 3 April 10 Indiana 103–113 3–0 12,217 4 April 12 Indiana 109–110 3–1 17,389 5 April 14 San Antonio 117–123 3–2 10,986 6 April 16 Indiana 115–100 4–2 15,675 Pacers win series, 4–2 ABA Western Division Finals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 20 Denver 128–131 0–1 7,444 2 April 22 Denver 131–124 1–1 7,491 3 April 24 Indiana 118–112 2–1 15,496 4 April 25 Indiana 109–126 2–2 17,389 5 April 27 Denver 109–90 3–2 7,483 6 April 30 Indiana 99–104 3–3 17,421 7 May 3 Denver 104–96 4–3 7,401 Pacers win series, 4–3 ABA Finals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 May 13 Kentucky 94–120 0–1 14,368 2 May 15 Kentucky 93–95 0–2 13,212 3 May 17 Indiana 101–109 0–3 17,388 4 May 19 Indiana 94–86 1–3 14,589 5 May 22 Kentucky 95–110 1–4 16,622 Pacers lose championship series, 4–1 References Category:Indiana Pacers seasons Indiana Indiana Pacers Indiana Pacers