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1971–72 NBA season

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The 1971–72 NBA season was the 26th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.

1971–72 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 12, 1971 – March 26, 1972
March 28 – April 23, 1972 (Playoffs)
April 26 – May 7, 1972 (Finals)
Number of games82
Number of teams17
TV partner(s)ABC
Draft
Top draft pickAustin Carr
Picked byCleveland Cavaliers
Regular season
Top seedLos Angeles Lakers
Season MVPKareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee)
Top scorerKareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee)
Playoffs
Eastern championsNew York Knicks
  Eastern runners-upBoston Celtics
Western championsLos Angeles Lakers
  Western runners-upMilwaukee Bucks
Finals
ChampionsLos Angeles Lakers
  Runners-upNew York Knicks
Finals MVPWilt Chamberlain (L.A. Lakers)
NBA seasons

As the 25th anniversary of the founding of the modern NBA, the league unveiled a new logo, inspired by the logo of Major League Baseball, to commemorate the occasion. It features the white silhouette of a basketball player dribbling, framed by red and blue. Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers was used as the model for the logo. Coincidentally, Jerry West would win the only NBA Championship of his career during the season.

Notable occurrences

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  • The San Diego Rockets relocated to Houston, Texas and became the Houston Rockets.[1]
  • The San Francisco Warriors were renamed the Golden State Warriors and the team moved across the San Francisco Bay to Oakland.[1]
  • The 1972 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Forum in Inglewood, California, with the West beating the East 112–110. To the delight of the home crowd, Jerry West of the Lakers won the game's MVP award, making a basket at the buzzer to win the game.
  • The Lakers' 69 wins set a new record for most regular season wins in NBA history. This mark would stand for 24 seasons, until it was bettered by the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls.[1]
  • The Lakers' Elgin Baylor announced his retirement nine games into the season. That night, the Lakers began a winning streak that would last for two months, totaling 33 games. That streak still stands as the longest winning streak in the history of major American professional team sports.[1]
  • The current NBA logo, which features the silhouette of Jerry West, made its debut. The blue/red pattern was adopted from the Major League Baseball logo.
  • This was the first season the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers did not make the playoffs.
  • This was the last season of the Cincinnati Royals. The team would relocate in the offseason, splitting their home games between Kansas City and Omaha, and rename themselves the Kings.
Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1970–71 coach 1971–72 coach
Los Angeles Lakers Joe Mullaney Bill Sharman
San Diego/Houston Rockets Alex Hannum Tex Winter
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Buffalo Braves Dolph Schayes Johnny McCarthy
Detroit Pistons Bill Van Breda Kolff
Terry Dischinger 		Earl Lloyd

Teams

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1971-72 National Basketball Association
Eastern Conference
Division Team City Arena Capacity
Atlantic Boston Celtics Boston, Massachusetts Boston Garden 13,909
Buffalo Braves Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 15,280
New York Knicks New York, New York Madison Square Garden 19,812
Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum 18,176
Central Atlanta Hawks Atlanta, Georgia Alexander Memorial Coliseum 9,191
Baltimore Bullets Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Civic Center 11,271
Cincinnati Royals Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati Gardens 11,000
Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland Arena 10,000
Western Conference
Midwest Chicago Bulls Chicago, Illinois Chicago Stadium 18,676
Detroit Pistons Detroit, Michigan Cobo Arena 12,191
Milwaukee Bucks Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee Arena 10,783
Phoenix Suns Phoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,870
Pacific Golden State Warriors Oakland, California Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena 13,502
Houston Rockets Houston, Texas Hofheinz Pavilion 10,000
Los Angeles Lakers Inglewood, California The Forum 17,505
Portland Trail Blazers Portland, Oregon Memorial Coliseum 12,888
Seattle SuperSonics Seattle, Washington Seattle Center Coliseum 17,072

Map of teams

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  Atlantic Division   Central Division   Midwest Division   Pacific Division

Regular season

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The Los Angeles Lakers came into the season returning a veteran squad from their playoff run a year before. Nine games into the season, aging and oft injured Elgin Baylor announced his retirement after 13 seasons. He was replaced at the starting small forward spot by Jim McMillian, who would go on to average 18 points per game, third best on the team. Despite Baylor's retirement, the Lakers went on a 33-game winning streak. The Lakers completed two undefeated months, going 14–0 in November and 16–0 in December. After winning their first three games in January, the Lakers lost 120–104 to the Milwaukee Bucks. On March 20, 1972, the Lakers beat Golden State by a record 63 points (162–99), a mark that would stand until 1991, when Cleveland beat Miami by 68 points (148–80) and later was broken in 2021 when Memphis beat Oklahoma City by 73 points (152–79). The Lakers finished the season with a record 69 wins, which would stand until the 1995–96 season when the Chicago Bulls won 72 regular season games and later was also broken by the 2015–16 Golden State Warriors won an NBA record 73 regular season games.[1]

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks won 63 games on the play of renamed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly Lew Alcindor, and Oscar Robertson. The Celtics, led by second year center Dave Cowens, point guard Jo Jo White and 32-year-old swingman John Havlicek won the Atlantic Division with 56 wins. Boston had recovered from the retirement of Bill Russell, K. C. Jones and Sam Jones by winning 12 more games than the previous season.

Playoffs

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In the first round, the Lakers swept the Bulls and Milwaukee defeated Golden State. New York eliminated the Bullets and Boston won against the Atlanta Hawks. In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers lost game 1 versus the defending champion Bucks at The Forum 93–72, a game that saw the Lakers score only 8 points in the third quarter. However, the Lakers led by assist champion Jerry West, leading scorer Gail Goodrich and veteran Wilt Chamberlain would win 4 of the next 5 games and beat Milwaukee in six games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, New York defeated the top-seed Celtics in five games.[1]

In the NBA Finals, New York won game 1 very easily, but Los Angeles won game 2 106–92 to even the series. In game 3, the Lakers jumped out to a 22-point lead and regained home-court advantage with a 107–96 win. In game 4, the Knicks forced overtime. At the end of regulation, Wilt Chamberlain was called for his fifth foul. In his first 12 seasons, he had never fouled out of a game. Chamberlain did not foul out and led the Lakers to a 116–111 victory, but he broke his wrist in the overtime period. The Lakers held a 3–1 series lead going into game 5 in Los Angeles. In game 5, Chamberlain played despite his injury. The score was tied at 53 in the first half, but the Lakers outscored the Knicks 61–47 in the second half to win the game and the NBA Championship, 114–100.[1]

Notable trades

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1971
 To Baltimore Bullets
Mike Riordan, Dave Stallworth, 1973 first-round pick, 1976 second-round and first-round picks 		To New York Knicks
Earl Monroe

Final standings

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By division

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Atlantic Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 56 26 .683 – 32–9 21–16 3–1 15–3
x-New York Knicks 48 34 .585 8 27–14 20–19 1–1 11–7
Philadelphia 76ers 30 52 .366 26 14–23 14–26 2–3 6–12
Buffalo Braves 22 60 .268 34 13–27 8–31 1–2 4–14
Central Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Baltimore Bullets 38 44 .463 – 18–15 16–24 4–5 9–9
x-Atlanta Hawks 36 46 .439 2 22–19 13–26 1–1 9–9
Cincinnati Royals 30 52 .366 8 20–18 8–32 2–2 11–9
Cleveland Cavaliers 23 59 .280 15 13–28 8–30 2–1 9–11
Midwest Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 63 19 .768 – 31–5 27–12 5–2 13–5
x-Chicago Bulls 57 25 .695 6 29–12 26–12 2–1 12–6
Phoenix Suns 49 33 .598 14 30–11 19–20 0–2 7–11
Detroit Pistons 26 56 .317 37 16–25 9–30 1–1 4–14
Pacific Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 69 13 .841 – 36–5 31–7 2–1 21–3
x-Golden State Warriors 51 31 .622 18 27–8 21–20 3–3 14–10
Seattle SuperSonics 47 35 .573 22 28–12 18–22 1–1 12–12
Houston Rockets 34 48 .415 35 15–20 14–23 5–5 9–15
Portland Trail Blazers 18 64 .220 51 14–26 4–35 0–3 4–20

By conference

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#
Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics 56 26 .683
2 y-Baltimore Bullets 38 44 .463
3 x-New York Knicks 48 34 .585
4 x-Atlanta Hawks 36 46 .439
5 Philadelphia 76ers 30 52 .366
5 Cincinnati Royals 30 52 .366
7 Cleveland Cavaliers 23 59 .280
8 Buffalo Braves 22 60 .268
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers 69 13 .841
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks 63 19 .768
3 x-Chicago Bulls 57 25 .695
4 x-Golden State Warriors 51 31 .622
5 Phoenix Suns 49 33 .598
6 Seattle SuperSonics 47 35 .573
7 Houston Rockets 34 48 .415
8 Detroit Pistons 26 56 .317
9 Portland Trail Blazers 18 64 .220

Notes

  • z, y – division champions
  • x – clinched playoff spot

Playoff bracket

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Main article: 1972 NBA playoffs
Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
         
A1 Boston* 4
C2 Atlanta 2
A1 Boston* 1
Eastern Conference
A2 New York 4
C1 Baltimore* 2
A2 New York 4
A2 New York 1
P1 Los Angeles* 4
M1 Milwaukee* 4
P2 Golden State 1
M1 Milwaukee* 2
Western Conference
P1 Los Angeles* 4
P1 Los Angeles* 4
M2 Chicago 0
  • * Division winner
  • Bold Series winner
  • Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders

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Category Player Team Stat
Points per game Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee Bucks 34.8
Rebounds per game Wilt Chamberlain Los Angeles Lakers 19.2
Assists per game Jerry West Los Angeles Lakers 9.7
FG% Wilt Chamberlain Los Angeles Lakers .649
FT% Jack Marin Baltimore Bullets .894

NBA awards

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Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com or Basketball reference.com

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "NBA.com history". Retrieved June 24, 2009.
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