1973 NBA Playoffs
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The 1973 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association'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 as of 2015, most recent) NBA title. Willis Reed 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. L.A. returned in 1980; New York waited until 1994.
Bracket
| Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Milwaukee | 2 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Golden State | 4 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Golden State | 1 | |||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||
| 2 | L.A. Lakers | 4 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Chicago | 3 | |||||||||||
| 2 | L.A. Lakers | 4 | |||||||||||
| W2 | L.A. Lakers | 1 | |||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 4 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Atlanta | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Boston | 3 | |||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||
| 2 | New York | 4 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Baltimore | 1 | |||||||||||
| 2 | New York | 4 | |||||||||||
Western Conference
Champion: Los Angeles Lakers
Conference Semifinals
(1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (4) Golden State Warriors: Warriors win series 4-2
- Game 1 @ Milwaukee (March 30): Milwaukee 110, Golden State 90
- Game 2 @ Milwaukee (April 1): Golden State 95, Milwaukee 92
- Game 3 @ Golden State (April 5): Milwaukee 113, Golden State 93
- Game 4 @ Golden State (April 7): Golden State 102, Milwaukee 97
- Game 5 @ Milwaukee (April 10): Golden State 100, Milwaukee 97
- Game 6 @ Golden State (April 13): Golden State 100, Milwaukee 86
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Chicago Bulls: Lakers win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Los Angeles (March 30): Los Angeles 107, Chicago 104 (OT)
- Game 2 @ Los Angeles (April 1): Los Angeles 108, Chicago 93
- Game 3 @ Chicago (April 6): Chicago 96, Los Angeles 86
- Game 4 @ Chicago (April 8): Chicago 98, Los Angeles 94
- Game 5 @ Los Angeles (April 10): Los Angeles 123, Chicago 102
- Game 6 @ Chicago (April 13): Chicago 101, Los Angeles 93
- Game 7 @ Los Angeles (April 15): Los Angeles 95, Chicago 92
Conference Finals
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Golden State Warriors: Lakers win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ Los Angeles (April 17): Los Angeles 101, Golden State 99
- Game 2 @ Los Angeles (April 19): Los Angeles 104, Golden State 93
- Game 3 @ Golden State (April 21): Los Angeles 126, Golden State 70
- Game 4 @ Golden State (April 23): Golden State 117, Los Angeles 109
- Game 5 @ Los Angeles (April 25): Los Angeles 128, Golden State 118
Eastern Conference
Champion: New York Knicks
Conference Semifinals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Atlanta Hawks: Celtics win series 4-2
- Game 1 @ Boston (April 1): Boston 134, Atlanta 109
- Game 2 @ Atlanta (April 4): Boston 126, Atlanta 113
- Game 3 @ Boston (April 6): Atlanta 118, Boston 105
- Game 4 @ Atlanta (April 8): Atlanta 97, Boston 94
- Game 5 @ Boston (April 11): Boston 108, Atlanta 101
- Game 6 @ Atlanta (April 13): Boston 121, Atlanta 103
(2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Baltimore Bullets: Knicks win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ New York (March 30): New York 95, Baltimore 83
- Game 2 @ New York (April 1): New York 123, Baltimore 103
- Game 3 @ Baltimore (April 4): New York 103, Baltimore 96
- Game 4 @ Baltimore (April 6): Baltimore 97, New York 89
- Game 5 @ New York (April 8): New York 109, Baltimore 99
Conference Finals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Boston (April 15): Boston 134, New York 108
- Game 2 @ New York (April 18): New York 129, Boston 96
- Game 3 @ Boston (April 20): New York 98, Boston 91
- Game 4 @ New York (April 22): New York 117, Boston 110 (2OT)
- Game 5 @ Boston (April 25): Boston 98, New York 97
- Game 6 @ New York (April 27): Boston 110, New York 100
- Game 7 @ Boston (April 29): New York 94, Boston 78 (The Knicks became the 1st NBA road team to win Game 7 after leading series 3–1)
NBA Finals
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (2) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ Los Angeles (May 1): Los Angeles 115, New York 112
- Game 2 @ Los Angeles (May 3): New York 99, Los Angeles 95
- Game 3 @ New York (May 6): New York 87, Los Angeles 83
- Game 4 @ New York (May 8): New York 103, Los Angeles 98
- Game 5 @ Los Angeles (May 10): New York 102, Los Angeles 93 (Wilt Chamberlain's final NBA game)