The 1972 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

's 1971–1972 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...

defeating the Eastern Division champion

New York Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, four games to two in the 1972 ABA Finals.

Notable events

The

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

, despite finishing the season with the best record in the history of the ABA (68-16, .810), winning 8 of 11 regular season games against the

and finishing 24 games ahead of the Nets in the regular season standings, lost their first round series to the Nets.

The Floridians ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

played their final game on April 6, 1972, losing at home in their Eastern Division semifinal series to the

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, ...

115-106. The Squires swept the series 4 games to none behind rookie Julius Erving who grabbed at least seventeen rebounds in three of those four games. On June 13, 1972, the league bought the Floridians and disbanded the team. The

became the first team to win a second ABA championship. Freddie Lewis of the Pacers was the Most Valuable Player of the ABA playoffs. This was the first season in which two future NBA teams met for the ABA Championship. This only happened one other time in the league's history, during its final year in 1976 when the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

edged past the Colonels 4-3 to meet the Nets in the ABA championship series. Five of the seven playoff series ended in final games in which the home team lost.

Western Division

Champion:

Division Semifinals (1)

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...

vs. (3)

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

: ''Stars win series 4-0'' *Game 1 @ Utah: Utah 106, Dallas 96 *Game 2 @ Utah: Utah 113, Dallas 107 *Game 3 @ Dallas: Utah 96, Dallas 89 *Game 4 @ Dallas: Utah 103, Dallas 99 (2)

vs. (4)

Denver Rockets Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...

: ''Pacers win series 4-3'' *Game 1 @ Indiana: Indiana 102, Denver 96 *Game 2 @ Indiana: Denver 106, Indiana 105 *Game 3 @ Denver: Indiana 122, Denver 120 *Game 4 @ Denver: Denver 112, Indiana 96 *Game 5 @ Indiana: Indiana 91, Denver 79 *Game 6 @ Denver: Denver 106, Indiana 99 *Game 7 @ Indiana: Indiana 91, Denver 89 Division Finals (1)

vs. (2)

: ''Pacers win series 4-3'' *Game 1 @ Utah: Utah 108, Indiana 100 *Game 2 @ Utah: Utah 117, Indiana 109 *Game 3 @ Indiana: Indiana 116, Utah 111 *Game 4 @ Indiana: Indiana 118, Utah 108 *Game 5 @ Utah: Utah 139, Indiana 130 *Game 6 @ Indiana: Indiana 105, Utah 99 *Game 7 @ Utah: Indiana 117, Utah 113

Eastern Division

Champion:

Division Semifinals (1)

vs. (3)

: ''Nets win series 4-2'' *Game 1 @ Kentucky: New York 122, Kentucky 108 *Game 2 @ Kentucky: New York 105, Kentucky 90 *Game 3 @ New York: Kentucky 105, New York 99 *Game 4 @ New York: New York 100, Kentucky 92 *Game 5 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 109, New York 93 *Game 6 @ New York: New York 101, Kentucky 96 (2)

vs. (4)

: ''Squires win series 4-0'' *Game 1 @ Virginia: Virginia 114, Florida 107 *Game 2 @ Virginia: Virginia 125, Florida 100 *Game 3 @ Florida: Virginia 118, Florida 113 *Game 4 @ Florida: Virginia 115, Florida 106 Division Finals (1)

vs. (3)

: ''Nets win series 4-3'' *Game 1 @ Virginia: Virginia 138, New York 91 *Game 2 @ Virginia: Virginia 115, New York 106 *Game 3 @ New York: New York 119, Virginia 117 *Game 4 @ New York: New York 118, Virginia 107 *Game 5 @ Virginia: Virginia 116, New York 107 *Game 6 @ New York: New York 146, Virginia 136 *Game 7 @ Virginia: New York 94, Virginia 88

ABA Finals

(2)

VS. (3)

: ''Pacers win series 4-2'' *Game 1 (May 6) @ Indiana: Indiana 124, New York 103 *Game 2 (May 9) @ Indiana: New York 117, Indiana 115 *Game 3 (May 12) @ New York: Indiana 114, New York 108 *Game 4 (May 15) @ New York: New York 110, Indiana 105 *Game 5 (May 18) @ Indiana: Indiana 100, New York 99 *Game 6 (May 20) @ New York: Indiana 108, New York 105

External links

RememberTheABA.com page on 1972 ABA playoffs
{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 Aba Playoffs

Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

American Basketball Association playoffs