The 1973 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1972–73 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the culmination of that season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1 to win their second championship. The series was an exact reversal of the prior year, this time with the Lakers winning Game 1 and the Knicks taking the next four games. Knicks center Willis Reed was named as the NBA Finals MVP.
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| Dates | May 1–10 | |||||||||
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| MVP | Willis Reed (New York Knicks) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Knicks: Jerry Lucas (1980) Willis Reed (1982) Bill Bradley (1983) Dave DeBusschere (1983) Walt Frazier (1987) Earl Monroe (1990) Phil Jackson (2007, as a coach) Dick Barnett (2024) Lakers: Wilt Chamberlain (1979) Jerry West (1980) Gail Goodrich (1996) Pat Riley (2008, as a coach) Coaches: Red Holzman (1986) Bill Sharman (2004) Officials: Darell Garretson (2016) Mendy Rudolph (2007) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Knicks defeated Celtics, 4–3 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Lakers defeated Warriors, 4–1 | |||||||||
Background
editLos Angeles Lakers
editThe Los Angeles Lakers entered the 1973 NBA Playoffs as co-favorites in the West with the Milwaukee Bucks, but both teams faced inspired opponents in the first round. The Chicago Bulls gave the Lakers all they could handle before the Lakers came from behind in Game 7 to take the series. The Lakers next faced the Golden State Warriors for the Western Conference championship (the Warriors had upset the Bucks in six games). In Game 1, the Lakers won by 2, and in Game 2 the Lakers won by 10. In Game 3 at Oakland, the Lakers routed the Warriors 126–70, but the Warriors won Game 4 to send the series back to Los Angeles. In the Forum, the Lakers took Game 5 and advanced to their fifth NBA Finals series in six seasons.
New York Knicks
editOne year after their NBA Finals loss, the Knicks were back in the playoffs. For some of the Knicks, including Jerry Lucas and Earl Monroe, this was probably their last shot at an NBA title. In the first round they paired against the Baltimore Bullets. The Knicks won games 1 and 2 in New York, but lost Game 3 at Baltimore (in that game, the Bullets used a strange lineup of two centers and three guards). New York would take Games 4 and 5 and Walt Frazier averaged 20 points per game in this series. In the Conference Finals, the Knicks faced the 68–14 Boston Celtics, who not only had the league's best record but also, to that point, the third-best won-lost record in NBA history. The Celtics routed New York, 134–108, Game 1 at the Boston Garden, but the Knicks returned the favor with a 129–96 rout in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks then beat the Celtics in Game 3 in Boston, and took a 3–1 series lead with a double overtime Easter Sunday win back in New York. Boston came back with two critical wins, winning 98–97 in Boston on two Paul Silas free throws, then regaining the home-court advantage with a 110–100 win at New York in Game 6. For Game 7, however, the Celtics were without their star John Havlicek, who was nursing an elbow injury. In that Game 7, played in Boston, the Celtics unbeaten record in seventh games played in Boston Garden was snapped when New York won easily, 94–78.
Road to the Finals
edit| Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference champion) | New York Knicks (Eastern Conference champion) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season |
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| Defeated the (3) Chicago Bulls, 4–3 | Division Semifinals | Defeated the (2) Baltimore Bullets, 4–1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defeated the (4) Golden State Warriors, 4–1 | Division Finals | Defeated the (1) Boston Celtics, 4–3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series summary
editAfter losing the first game, the Knicks reeled off four straight wins to reclaim the NBA title. This is the Knicks' most recent NBA Championship to date. New York would not make it back to the NBA Finals until 1994.
This would also be the last Finals appearance of the decade for the Lakers. Their next appearance would be in 1980, which would be the first of nine Finals appearances in 12 years for the franchise.
| Game | Date | Home team | Result | Road team |
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| Game 1 | May 1 | Los Angeles Lakers | 115–112 (1–0) | New York Knicks |
| Game 2 | May 3 | Los Angeles Lakers | 95–99 (1–1) | New York Knicks |
| Game 3 | May 6 | New York Knicks | 87–83 (2–1) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 4 | May 8 | New York Knicks | 103–98 (3–1) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 5 | May 10 | Los Angeles Lakers | 93–102 (1–4) | New York Knicks |
Knicks win series 4-1
This was the only NBA Championship for Jerry Lucas and Earl Monroe.
Game 5 of the series was Wilt Chamberlain's last game played in the NBA. Chamberlain scored the last points of the game, and of his career, on an uncontested fast break dunk with one second remaining.
ABC televised its last NBA Finals, until 2003. This is, to date, the last time a New York/Los Angeles NBA Finals of any combination has taken place, as well as the fifth-to-last championship series contested by both cities in any sport (the 1981 World Series is the last matchup in the 20th century, and the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals is the latest).
Game summaries
editGame 1
editMay 1
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| New York Knicks 112, Los Angeles Lakers 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–29, 23–30, 30–36, 33–20 | ||
| Pts: Dave DeBusschere 25 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 16 Asts: Walt Frazier 8 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 30 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 20 Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 6 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 1–0 | ||
Game 2
editMay 3
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| New York Knicks 99, Los Angeles Lakers 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–23, 26–23, 26–26, 23–23 | ||
| Pts: Bill Bradley 26 Rebs: DeBusschere, Reed 9 each Asts: Jerry Lucas 5 |
Pts: Jerry West 32 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 20 Asts: Goodrich, West 5 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
Game 3
editMay 6
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| Los Angeles Lakers 83, New York Knicks 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–26, 23–18, 13–25, 23–18 | ||
| Pts: Jim McMillian 22 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 13 Asts: Wilt Chamberlain 5 |
Pts: Willis Reed 22 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 11 Asts: Earl Monroe 6 | |
| New York leads series, 2–1 | ||
Game 4
editMay 8
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| Los Angeles Lakers 98, New York Knicks 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–29, 28–26, 25–27, 29–21 | ||
| Pts: Goodrich, West 23 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 19 Asts: Bill Bridges 7 |
Pts: Dave DeBusschere 33 Rebs: Dave DeBusschere 14 Asts: Walt Frazier 8 | |
| New York leads series, 3–1 | ||
Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 19,694 Referees: Mendy Rudolph, Darell Garretson |
Game 5
editMay 10
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| New York Knicks 102, Los Angeles Lakers 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–16, 16–25, 32–18, 31–34 | ||
| Pts: Earl Monroe 23 Rebs: Willis Reed 12 Asts: Willis Reed 7 |
Pts: Gail Goodrich 28 Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 21 Asts: Jerry West 4 | |
| New York wins NBA Finals, 4–1 | ||
Team rosters
editNew York Knicks
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Los Angeles Lakers
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