The 1973 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

'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 most recent) NBA title.

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (born June 25, 1942) is an American retired basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Me ...

became the first player to be 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. This was the Lakers' last appearance in the Finals until 1980; It was New York's last appearance until

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

Bracket

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference Semifinals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4)
Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning four of the first five meetings.

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

Last Playoff Game played at The Baltimore Civic Center. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning three of the previous four meetings.

Western Conference Semifinals

(1)
Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
vs. (4) Golden State Warriors

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bucks winning the first two meetings.

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3)
Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference Finals

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

* The Knicks became the 1st NBA road team to win Game 7 after leading series 3–1, also this is the first time the Celtics lost a Game 7. This was the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with both teams splitting the first eight meetings.

Western Conference Finals

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

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning two of the first three meetings.

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

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

's final NBA game. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning three of the first four meetings.

References

External links

Basketball-Reference.com's 1973 NBA Playoffs page
{{1972–73 NBA season by team National Basketball Association 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 ...

fi:NBA-kausi 1972–1973#Pudotuspelit