1972 NBA playoffs

Basketball competition August 2023 NBA playoffs 1972 1971–72 March 28–May 7, 1972 8 Los Angeles Lakers 6 New York Knicks Milwaukee Bucks Boston Celtics 1971 1973 The 1972 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1971–72 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals. Wilt Chamberlain was named NBA Finals MVP. The Lakers finished the regular season with the best record in NBA history at 69–13, a mark that was unequalled until the 1996 Bulls finished 72–10. Led by Chamberlain and Jerry West, the Lakers won their first title in Los Angeles and their first title overall since 1954, when the team was based in Minneapolis. The Lakers won their first NBA Finals in their last nine appearances without superstar Elgin Baylor, who had played in each of the preceding eight losses. He retired nine games into the season because of ongoing knee problems. The Conference Semifinals series between the Bullets and Knicks would be the last NBA playoff series in which the team with the inferior regular season record held home-court advantage based on division champions holding home-court advantage over a division runner-up through the Conference Finals. Although from 1977–2015, division champions were either automatically seeded higher than non-division champions or guaranteed a minimum seed regardless of record. However, home-court advantage would be based on regular season record, with division champion status being used as a possible tiebreaker to determine seeding. Bracket Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals Eastern Conference Western Conference A1 Boston* 4 C2 Atlanta 2 C1 Baltimore* 2 A2 New York 4 M1 Milwaukee* 4 P2 Golden State 1 P1 Los Angeles* 4 M2 Chicago 0 A1 Boston* 1 A2 New York 4 M1 Milwaukee* 2 P1 Los Angeles* 4 A2 New York 1 P1 Los Angeles* 4* Division winner Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage Conference semifinals Eastern Conference semifinals (A1) Boston Celtics vs. (C2) Atlanta Hawks #eee March 29 Boxscore Atlanta Hawks 108 Boston Celtics 126 30–28 23–34 30–33 25–31 Lou Hudson 29 Don Adams 12 Herm Gilliam 8 John Havlicek 32 Dave Cowens 16 John Havlicek 10 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 12,815 Boston leads series, 1–0 March 31 Boxscore Boston Celtics 104 Atlanta Hawks 113 30–32 22–27 28–31 24–23 John Havlicek 43 Dave Cowens 12 John Havlicek 4 Lou Hudson 41 Walt Bellamy 18 Herm Gilliam 9 Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia 6,955 Series tied, 1–1 #eee April 2 Boxscore Atlanta Hawks 113 Boston Celtics 136 27–33 26–41 28–22 32–40 Pete Maravich 37 Jim Washington 11 Pete Maravich 6 John Havlicek 31 Cowens, Finkel 11 each Jo Jo White 11 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 12,094 Boston leads series, 2–1 April 4 Boxscore Boston Celtics 110 Atlanta Hawks 112 30–26 24–26 26–32 30–28 Jo Jo White 32 Steve Kuberski 13 John Havlicek 5 Pete Maravich 36 Walt Bellamy 15 Don Adams 4 Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia 7,192 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 7 Boxscore Atlanta Hawks 114 Boston Celtics 124 23–33 30–25 31–31 30–35 three players 21 each Walt Bellamy 13 Pete Maravich 8 John Havlicek 27 Dave Cowens 12 John Havlicek 9 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 15,315 Boston leads series, 3–2 April 9 Boxscore Boston Celtics 127 Atlanta Hawks 118 41–31 35–33 24–24 27–30 Havlicek, Cowens 26 each Dave Cowens 20 Jo Jo White 9 Pete Maravich 37 Walt Bellamy 15 Pete Maravich 5 Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia 7,192 Boston wins series, 4–2 This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning three of the four meetings while the Hawks were based in St. Louis. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=ATL&opp_id=BOS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Boston Celtics (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Boston leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1957 Boston Celtics 4 St. Louis Hawks 3 1957 NBA Finals #fff 1958 Boston Celtics 2 St. Louis Hawks 4 1958 NBA Finals #fff 1960 Boston Celtics 4 St. Louis Hawks 3 1960 NBA Finals #fff 1961 Boston Celtics 4 St. Louis Hawks 1 1961 NBA Finals (C1) Baltimore Bullets vs. (A2) New York Knicks #eee March 31 Boxscore New York Knicks 105 Baltimore Bullets 108 OT 26–24 24–27 20–23 29–25 6–9 Walt Frazier 31 Jerry Lucas 14 Walt Frazier 6 Archie Clark 38 Wes Unseld 18 Wes Unseld 6 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 12,289 Baltimore leads series, 1–0 April 2 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 88 New York Knicks 110 17–26 21–30 28–23 22–31 Archie Clark 18 Unseld, Tresvant 10 each Archie Clark 7 Walt Frazier 30 Dave DeBusschere 14 Walt Frazier 9 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,588 Series tied, 1–1 #eee April 4 Boxscore New York Knicks 103 Baltimore Bullets 104 27–29 25–18 26–31 25–26 Earl Monroe 28 Jerry Lucas 12 Bill Bradley 5 Archie Clark 35 Unseld, Tresvant 12 each Unseld, Clark 9 each Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 12,289 Baltimore leads series, 2–1 April 6 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 98 New York Knicks 104 20–25 27–25 26–32 25–22 Archie Clark 22 Wes Unseld 16 Archie Clark 6 Bill Bradley 25 Dave DeBusschere 13 Walt Frazier 8 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,588 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 9 Boxscore New York Knicks 106 Baltimore Bullets 82 28–23 22–20 27–12 29–27 Lucas, Monroe 20 each Jerry Lucas 16 Jerry Lucas 6 Mike Riordan 16 Wes Unseld 13 Archie Clark 9 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland 10,244 New York leads series, 3–2 April 11 Boxscore Baltimore Bullets 101 New York Knicks 107 19–27 25–21 30–27 27–32 Archie Clark 31 John Tresvant 8 Archie Clark 11 Lucas, Frazier 22 each Jerry Lucas 12 Frazier, Monroe 5 each Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,588 New York wins series, 4–2 This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning two of the previous three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=NYK&opp_id=WAS&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — New York Knicks versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021New York leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1969 Baltimore Bullets 0 New York Knicks 4 1969 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1970 Baltimore Bullets 3 New York Knicks 4 1970 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1971 Baltimore Bullets 4 New York Knicks 3 1971 Eastern Conference Finals Western Conference semifinals (P1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (M2) Chicago Bulls #eee March 28 Boxscore Chicago Bulls 80 Los Angeles Lakers 95 17–17 23–26 21–24 19–28 Jerry Sloan 18 Clifford Ray 17 Norm Van Lier 4 Gail Goodrich 32 Chamberlain, Hairston 17 each Jerry West 10 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Los Angeles leads series, 1–0 March 30 Boxscore Chicago Bulls 124 Los Angeles Lakers 131 35–30 26–38 31–26 32–37 Bob Love 26 Clifford Ray 12 Norm Van Lier 10 Jerry West 37 Wilt Chamberlain 21 Jerry West 11 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Los Angeles leads series, 2–0 #eee April 2 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 108 Chicago Bulls 101 30–24 26–25 25–26 27–26 Jerry West 31 Wilt Chamberlain 14 Jerry West 9 Norm Van Lier 22 Clifford Ray 20 Norm Van Lier 8 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 17,805 Los Angeles leads series, 3–0 April 4 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 108 Chicago Bulls 97 18–28 28–22 31–25 31–22 Gail Goodrich 27 Wilt Chamberlain 31 Jerry West 10 Clifford Ray 20 Clifford Ray 17 Norm Van Lier 11 Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 18,847 Los Angeles wins series, 4–0 This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning both prior meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=CHI&opp_id=LAL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Chicago Bulls versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Los Angeles leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1968 Chicago Bulls 1 Los Angeles Lakers 4 1968 Western Division Semifinals #fff 1971 Chicago Bulls 3 Los Angeles Lakers 4 1971 Western Conference Semifinals (M1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (P2) Golden State Warriors #eee March 28 Boxscore Golden State Warriors 117 Milwaukee Bucks 106 26–36 33–25 31–20 27–25 Jim Barnett 30 Nate Thurmond 20 Thurmond, Mullins 9 each Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 15 Lucius Allen 8 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 9,877 Golden State leads series, 1–0 March 30 Boxscore Golden State Warriors 93 Milwaukee Bucks 118 25–33 22–22 20–35 26–28 Nate Thurmond 32 Thurmond, Lee 18 each Mullins, Barnett 5 each Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22 Oscar Robertson 9 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Series tied, 1–1 #eee April 1 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 122 Golden State Warriors 94 27–18 31–26 28–25 36–25 Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge 23 each Nate Thurmond 21 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California 13,502 Milwaukee leads series, 2–1 April 4 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 106 Golden State Warriors 99 33–32 25–19 23–24 25–24 Bob Dandridge 31 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20 Oscar Robertson 11 Jim Barnett 29 Clyde Lee 16 Jeff Mullins 6 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California 12,986 Milwaukee leads series, 3–1 #eee April 6 Boxscore Golden State Warriors 100 Milwaukee Bucks 108 29–34 26–19 27–31 18–24 Nate Thurmond 26 Bob Dandridge 29 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Milwaukee wins series, 4–1 This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bucks winning the first meeting. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=GSW&opp_id=MIL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Golden State Warriors versus Milwaukee Bucks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Milwaukee leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1971 San Francisco Warriors 1 Milwaukee Bucks 4 1971 Western Conference Semifinals Conference finals Eastern Conference finals (A1) Boston Celtics vs. (A2) New York Knicks #eee April 13 Boxscore New York Knicks 116 Boston Celtics 94 26–17 27–19 32–31 31–27 Walt Frazier 36 Jerry Lucas 11 Jerry Lucas 8 Jo Jo White 19 Dave Cowens 15 Jo Jo White 5 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 14,292 New York leads series, 1–0 April 16 Boxscore Boston Celtics 105 New York Knicks 106 30–31 22–24 24–29 29–22 John Havlicek 29 Dave Cowens 18 John Havlicek 6 Dave DeBusschere 24 Dave DeBusschere 17 three players 4 each Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,588 New York leads series, 2–0 #eee April 19 Boxscore New York Knicks 109 Boston Celtics 115 22–21 25–34 36–25 26–35 Bill Bradley 29 Dave DeBusschere 12 Dave DeBusschere 6 Jo Jo White 29 Dave Cowens 16 John Havlicek 11 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 15,315 New York leads series, 2–1 April 21 Boxscore Boston Celtics 98 New York Knicks 116 28–30 24–27 21–29 25–30 John Havlicek 27 Havlicek, Nelson 9 each John Havlicek 6 Earl Monroe 26 Dave DeBusschere 16 Jerry Lucas 7 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,588 New York leads series, 3–1 #eee April 23 Boxscore New York Knicks 111 Boston Celtics 103 23–27 27–28 33–24 28–24 Dave DeBusschere 24 Frazier, DeBusschere 11 each Walt Frazier 7 John Havlicek 32 Dave Cowens 15 Jo Jo White 9 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 15,315 New York wins series, 4–1 This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning four of the first seven meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=NYK&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus New York Knicks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Boston leads 4–3 in all-time playoff series#fff 1951 Boston Celtics 0 New York Knicks 2 1951 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1952 Boston Celtics 1 New York Knicks 2 1952 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1953 Boston Celtics 1 New York Knicks 3 1953 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1954 Boston Celtics 2 New York Knicks 0 1954 Eastern Division Round Robin Semifinals #fff 1955 Boston Celtics 2 New York Knicks 1 1955 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1967 Boston Celtics 3 New York Knicks 1 1967 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1969 Boston Celtics 4 New York Knicks 2 1969 Eastern Division Finals Western Conference finals (P1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (M1) Milwaukee Bucks #eee April 9 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 93 Los Angeles Lakers 72 19-19 18–15 31–8 25–30 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 33 Curtis Perry 23 Oscar Robertson 10 Happy Hairston 16 Wilt Chamberlain 24 Jerry West 6 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's famous dunk on Wilt Chamberlain. April 12 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 134 Los Angeles Lakers 135 38–37 28–35 30–34 38–29 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 40 Curtis Perry 12 Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson 7 each Jim McMillian 42 Wilt Chamberlain 17 Jerry West 13 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Series tied, 1–1 Jerry West chases down a loose ball deflected off referee Manny Sokol and throws a quick pass to Happy Hairston who scores the game-winning basket with 6 seconds left. #eee April 14 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 108 Milwaukee Bucks 105 26–28 30–22 26–31 26–24 Gail Goodrich 30 Wilt Chamberlain 14 Jerry West 8 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21 Abdul-Jabbar, Allen 6 each Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Los Angeles leads series, 2–1 April 16 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 88 Milwaukee Bucks 114 21–32 24-24 20–21 23–37 Jerry West 24 Chamberlain, Hairston 11 each Chamberlain, West 4 each Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31 Curtis Perry 19 Oscar Robertson 10 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 18 Boxscore Milwaukee Bucks 90 Los Angeles Lakers 115 24-24 22–31 23–35 21–25 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 16 Bob Dandridge 4 Jim McMillian 25 Wilt Chamberlain 26 Jerry West 10 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Los Angeles leads series, 3–2 April 22 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 104 Milwaukee Bucks 100 25-25 26–27 21–25 32–23 Jerry West 25 Wilt Chamberlain 24 Jerry West 9 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 37 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 8 Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 10,746 Los Angeles wins series, 4–2 This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bucks winning the first meeting. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=MIL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Milwaukee Bucks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Milwaukee leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1971 Los Angeles Lakers 1 Milwaukee Bucks 4 1971 Western Conference Finals NBA Finals: (P1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (A2) New York Knicks 1972 NBA Finals #eee April 26 Boxscore New York Knicks 114 Los Angeles Lakers 92 33–28 34–21 19–19 28–24 Bill Bradley 29 Dave DeBusschere 18 Walt Frazier 11 Gail Goodrich 20 Wilt Chamberlain 19 Jerry West 7 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Richie Powers, Ed Rush New York leads series, 1–0 April 30 Boxscore New York Knicks 92 Los Angeles Lakers 106 26–30 24–21 11–28 31–27 Walt Frazier 21 Lucas, Jackson 11 each Walt Frazier 7 Gail Goodrich 31 Wilt Chamberlain 24 Jerry West 13 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Mendy Rudolph, Jack Madden Series tied, 1–1 #eee May 3 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 107 New York Knicks 96 23–28 29–19 28–18 27–31 Wilt Chamberlain 26 Chamberlain, Hairston 20 each Jerry West 8 Walt Frazier 25 Jerry Lucas 14 Jerry Lucas 6 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,588 Don Murphy, Richie Powers Los Angeles leads series, 2–1 May 5 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 116 New York Knicks 111 OT 26–28 27–28 25–25 23–20 15–10 Jerry West 28 Wilt Chamberlain 24 Jerry West 7 Bill Bradley 26 Dave DeBusschere 13 Jerry Lucas 11 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York 19,588 Mendy Rudolph, Jake O'Donnell Los Angeles leads series, 3–1 Walt Frazier tips in a Dave DeBusschere miss over Wilt Chamberlain with 3 seconds left in regulation to force OT. #eee May 7 Boxscore New York Knicks 100 Los Angeles Lakers 114 24–26 29–27 25–30 22–31 Walt Frazier 31 Dave DeBusschere 14 Walt Frazier 10 Gail Goodrich 25 Wilt Chamberlain 29 Jerry West 9 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,505 Richie Powers, Jack Madden Los Angeles wins series, 4–1 The Lakers win their first title after moving to Los Angeles. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning two of the first three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=NYK&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus New York Knicks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Los Angeles leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1952 Minneapolis Lakers 4 New York Knicks 3 1952 NBA Finals #fff 1953 Minneapolis Lakers 4 New York Knicks 1 1953 NBA Finals #fff 1970 Los Angeles Lakers 3 New York Knicks 4 1970 NBA Finals See also 1972 NBA Finals 1971–72 NBA season 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers season References External links Sports Illustrated (April 24, 1972) Los Angeles Scrambles Back Basketball-Reference.com's 1972 NBA Playoffs page Category:NBA playoffs Playoffs fi:NBA-kausi 1971–1972#Pudotuspelit