1972–73 Boston Celtics season

The 1972–73 Boston Celtics season was their 27th in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics finished the season with the best record in the league, and currently in franchise history, at 68–14. Third-year center Dave Cowens won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tiny Archibald. They also won the Atlantic Division for the second consecutive season.

1972–73 Boston Celtics season
Division champions
Head coachTom Heinsohn
General managerRed Auerbach
ArenaBoston Garden
Results
Record68–14 (.829)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishConference finals
(lost to Knicks 3–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWSMW
RadioWBZ

In the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics lost to the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks.

Draft picks
Main article: 1972 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 10 Paul Westphal PG/SG  United States USC
2 27 Dennis Wuycik SF  United States North Carolina
3 44 Wayne Grabiec G  United States Michigan
4 61 Nate Stephens C  United States Long Beach State
5 77 Bryan Adrian G  United States Davidson
6 94 Don Holcomb C  United States Memphis
6 96 Wally Rice G  United States Widener
7 111 Steve Previs PG  United States North Carolina
8 127 Sam McCamey F  United States Oral Roberts
10 154 Marty Hunt G  United States Kenyon
11 165 Mark Minor SF  United States Ohio State
12 173 Phil Stephens C  United States South Carolina State

Roster
Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
G 12 United States Chaney, Don 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Houston
C 18 United States Cowens, Dave 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Florida State
C 29 United States Finkel, Henry 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Dayton
G/F 17 United States Havlicek, John 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Ohio State
F/C 11 United States Kuberski, Steve 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Bradley
F 19 United States Nelson, Don 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Iowa
F 16 United States Sanders, Tom 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) NYU
F 35 United States Silas, Paul 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Creighton
G 44 United States Westphal, Paul 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) USC
G 10 United States White, Jo Jo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Kansas
G 7 United States Williams, Art 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Cal Poly Pomona
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season

Season standings
Atlantic Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 6814.829–33–632–83–018–4
x-New York Knicks 5725.6951135–621–181–116–6
Buffalo Braves 2161.2564714–276–311–38–14
Philadelphia 76ers 973.110595–262–362–112–20
#
Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics6814.829
2 x-New York Knicks5725.695
3 y-Baltimore Bullets5230.634
4 x-Atlanta Hawks4636.561
5 Houston Rockets3349.402
6 Cleveland Cavaliers3250.390
7 Buffalo Braves2161.256
8 Philadelphia 76ers973.110

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
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 11@ Detroit121–108John Havlicek (29)1–0
2October 13Los Angeles104–112John Havlicek (30)2–0
3October 14@ Chicago96–88John Havlicek (21)3–0
4October 17@ Atlanta119–115Dave Cowens (29)4–0
5October 20Buffalo118–126Dave Cowens (24)5–0
6October 21@ Baltimore104–101Jo Jo White (36)6–0
7October 23Philadelphia85–105Dave Cowens (21)7–0
8October 24@ Buffalo105–97Jo Jo White (28)8–0
9October 27Cleveland97–123Jo Jo White (20)9–0
10November 3Baltimore96–109Havlicek, White (22)10–0
11November 4Kansas City–Omaha118–107John Havlicek (36)10–1
12November 8Golden State111–128John Havlicek (25)11–1
13November 10@ Buffalo106–104Jo Jo White (22)12–1
14November 11Detroit118–121John Havlicek (37)13–1
15November 15Phoenix94–113Dave Cowens (25)14–1
16November 17Milwaukee95–88John Havlicek (30)14–2
17November 21@ Milwaukee116–102John Havlicek (27)15–2
18November 22Portland107–126Dave Cowens (33)16–2
19November 24New York97–114Dave Cowens (23)17–2
20November 25@ New York94–97John Havlicek (24)17–3
21November 29Seattle98–120John Havlicek (22)18–3
22December 1@ Philadelphia105–99Jo Jo White (31)19–3
23December 2Philadelphia120–131Jo Jo White (30)20–3
24December 8@ Cleveland96–87Dave Cowens (25)21–3
25December 9Cleveland88–123John Havlicek (23)22–3
26December 13@ Phoenix105–100Jo Jo White (26)23–3
27December 15@ Los Angeles102–98Dave Cowens (31)24–3
28December 16@ Portland123–116Dave Cowens (33)25–3
29December 17@ Seattle123–98John Havlicek (27)26–3
30December 19@ Golden State112–115Jo Jo White (30)26–4
31December 22@ Kansas City–Omaha118–90Dave Cowens (26)27–4
32December 23@ Milwaukee98–104John Havlicek (24)27–5
33December 26New York106–115Dave Cowens (38)28–5
34December 29Chicago106–99Dave Cowens (27)28–6
35December 30N Philadelphia107–117John Havlicek (28)29–6
36January 2@ Houston130–110John Havlicek (25)30–6
37January 3@ Houston112–123John Havlicek (32)30–7
38January 5@ Atlanta126–108John Havlicek (30)31–7
39January 7N Baltimore116–98John Havlicek (33)32–7
40January 10Houston107–128John Havlicek (22)33–7
41January 12Atlanta109–133John Havlicek (25)34–7
42January 13@ Philadelphia111–95Jo Jo White (29)35–7
43January 16@ Buffalo106–102John Havlicek (33)36–7
44January 17Portland99–117Dave Cowens (35)37–7
45January 19Seattle104–124Jo Jo White (33)38–7
46January 21Buffalo97–104John Havlicek (26)39–7
47January 26Houston126–139Dave Cowens (24)40–7
48January 27@ New York108–111John Havlicek (25)40–8
49January 28New York96–93John Havlicek (25)40–9
50January 31Cleveland89–94Don Chaney (26)41–9
51February 2Atlanta100–99John Havlicek (30)41–10
52February 3@ Philadelphia104–100Jo Jo White (20)42–10
53February 4Philadelphia115–123Jo Jo White (38)43–10
54February 6@ Cleveland105–110Don Nelson (30)43–11
55February 7Los Angeles112–113 (OT)Dave Cowens (34)44–11
56February 9Detroit104–95Jo Jo White (24)44–12
57February 11Milwaukee96–120Dave Cowens (28)45–12
58February 13@ Chicago105–101John Havlicek (31)46–12
59February 14@ Kansas City–Omaha104–101John Havlicek (28)47–12
60February 16@ Portland112–105Jo Jo White (36)48–12
61February 17@ Golden State110–106John Havlicek (33)49–12
62February 18@ Seattle106–105Jo Jo White (26)50–12
63February 20Phoenix97–107John Havlicek (26)51–12
64February 25@ Cleveland105–92Dave Cowens (22)52–12
65February 27@ New York91–123Don Chaney (18)52–13
66February 28Golden State111–118Don Chaney (32)53–13
67March 2@ Detroit115–101Jo Jo White (25)54–13
68March 4Buffalo113–125Paul Silas (26)55–13
69March 6@ Buffalo127–112Havlicek, White (25)56–13
70March 8@ Phoenix141–134 (OT)Dave Cowens (32)57–13
71March 9@ Los Angeles119–111Dave Cowens (34)58–13
72March 11New York107–122John Havlicek (32)59–13
73March 14Baltimore107–111Havlicek, White (27)60–13
74March 16@ Baltimore97–103Dave Cowens (23)60–14
75March 18Kansas City–Omaha105–109John Havlicek (28)61–14
76March 20N Houston89–94John Havlicek (28)62–14
77March 21Chicago105–106John Havlicek (27)63–14
78March 23Atlanta108–124Don Chaney (22)64–14
79March 24@ New York108–103Dave Cowens (29)65–14
80March 25@ Houston125–121Dave Cowens (28)66–14
81March 27@ Atlanta117–110John Havlicek (29)67–14
82March 28Baltimore101–120John Havlicek (34)68–14

Playoffs
1973 playoff game log
Conference semifinals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 1 Atlanta W 134–109 John Havlicek (54) Dave Cowens (17) Art Williams (12) Boston Garden
11,907		 1–0
2 April 4 @ Atlanta W 126–113 John Havlicek (29) Dave Cowens (25) Jo Jo White (11) Omni Coliseum
11,588		 2–0
3 April 6 Atlanta L 105–118 Jo Jo White (23) Dave Cowens (18) Jo Jo White (10) Boston Garden
15,320		 2–1
4 April 8 @ Atlanta L 94–97 John Havlicek (21) Paul Silas (22) John Havlicek (5) Omni Coliseum
11,675		 2–2
5 April 11 Atlanta W 108–101 John Havlicek (32) Dave Cowens (20) John Havlicek (11) Boston Garden
12,525		 3–2
6 April 13 @ Atlanta W 121–103 Jo Jo White (33) Paul Silas (17) Jo Jo White (7) Omni Coliseum
16,181		 4–2
Conference finals: 3–4 (home: 2–2; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 15 New York W 134–108 Jo Jo White (30) Dave Cowens (15) John Havlicek (11) Boston Garden
15,320		 1–0
2 April 18 @ New York L 96–129 John Havlicek (21) Dave Cowens (13) John Havlicek (11) Madison Square Garden
19,694		 1–1
3 April 20 New York L 91–98 John Havlicek (29) Paul Silas (14) John Havlicek (6) Boston Garden
15,320		 1–2
4 April 22 @ New York L 110–117 (2OT) Jo Jo White (34) Paul Silas (23) Jo Jo White (6) Madison Square Garden
19,694		 1–3
5 April 25 New York W 98–97 Dave Cowens (32) Paul Silas (20) Jo Jo White (7) Boston Garden
15,320		 2–3
6 April 27 @ New York W 110–100 Dave Cowens (26) Dave Cowens (14) Jo Jo White (7) Madison Square Garden
19,694		 3–3
7 April 29 New York L 78–94 Dave Cowens (24) Paul Silas (16) Dave Cowens (5) Boston Garden
15,320		 3–4
1973 schedule

Awards, records and milestones

References
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