The 1972 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1971–1972 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Indiana Pacers defeating the Eastern Division champion New York Nets, four games to two in the 1972 ABA Finals.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | ABA Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Utah Stars | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Dallas Chaparrals | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Utah Stars | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Western Division | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Indiana Pacers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Denver Rockets | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Indiana Pacers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Indiana Pacers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | New York Nets | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Kentucky Colonels | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | New York Nets | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | New York Nets | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Virginia Squires | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | The Floridians | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Virginia Squires | 4 | ||||||||||||
Notable events
editThe Kentucky Colonels, 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 New York Nets and finishing 24 games ahead of the Nets in the regular season standings, lost their first round series to the Nets.
The Floridians played their final game on April 6, 1972, losing at home in their Eastern Division semifinal series to the Virginia Squires 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 Indiana Pacers 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 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
editChampion: Indiana Pacers
Division Semifinals
(1) Utah Stars vs. (3) Dallas Chaparrals: 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) Indiana Pacers vs. (4) Denver Rockets: 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 (OT)
- 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) Utah Stars vs. (2) Indiana Pacers: 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
editChampion: New York Nets
Division Semifinals
(1) Kentucky Colonels vs. (3) New York Nets: 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) Virginia Squires vs. (4) The Floridians: Squires win series 4-0
- Game 1 @ Virginia: Virginia 114, Florida 107 (OT)
- Game 2 @ Virginia: Virginia 125, Florida 100
- Game 3 @ Florida: Virginia 118, Florida 113
- Game 4 @ Florida: Virginia 115, Florida 106
Division Finals
(2) Virginia Squires vs. (3) New York Nets: 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
edit(2) Indiana Pacers VS. (3) New York Nets: 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