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1972–73 New York Knicks season

Season of National Basketball Association team the New York Knicks

Field	Value
team	New York Knicks
end_year	1973
ConferenceWin	yes
ChampionshipWin	yes
wins	57
losses	25
division	Atlantic
division_place	2
conf_place	3
coach	Red Holzman
gm	Red Holzman
arena	Madison Square Garden
television	WOR–TV 9
(Bob Wolff and Cal Ramsey)
Manhattan Cable Television
(Bob Wolff and Cal Ramsey)
radio	WNBC–AM 660
(Marv Albert and John Andariese)
playoffs	[NBA champions](1973-nba-finals)
(Defeated [Lakers](1972-73-los-angeles-lakers-season) 4–1)
bbr_team	NYK

(Bob Wolff and Cal Ramsey) Manhattan Cable Television (Bob Wolff and Cal Ramsey) (Marv Albert and John Andariese) (Defeated Lakers 4–1)

The 1972–73 New York Knicks season was the 27th season of NBA basketball in New York City. The Knicks captured their second NBA title as they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, four games to one, which was exactly the same count the Knicks lost to the Lakers a year earlier. To date this is the last Knicks' championship. This is also the Knicks' last season with a Finals appearance until 1994.

Besides being the last Knicks team to win a championship, the team is also remembered for the deep roster of future Hall of Fame players, which included Dave DeBusschere, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, Willis Reed, Future U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, and future Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson. In fact, as of 2025, the 1972–73 Knicks are the last championship team to have all of their five regular starters enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Draft picks

Main article: 1972 NBA draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club team
1	8	Tom Riker	F/C	United States	South Carolina
4	58	Henry Bibby	G	United States	UCLA

Roster

Red Holzman
Dick McGuire
Danny Whelan

Preseason

Game log

All times are EASTERN time

Regular season

Standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

1972–73 game log
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82

Playoffs

4–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
1
April 15
@ Boston
L 108–134
Walt Frazier (24)
Walt Frazier (7)
Walt Frazier (10)
Boston Garden
15,320
0–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
2
April 18
Boston
W 129–96
Walt Frazier (24)
Dave DeBusschere (8)
Walt Frazier (10)
Madison Square Garden
19,694
1–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
3
April 20
@ Boston
W 98–91
Walt Frazier (23)
DeBusschere, Reed (11)
Walt Frazier (5)
Boston Garden
15,320
2–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
4
April 22
Boston
W 117–110 (2OT)
Walt Frazier (37)
Dave DeBusschere (10)
Dean Meminger (7)
Madison Square Garden
19,694
3–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
5
April 25
@ Boston
L 97–98
Walt Frazier (21)
Dave DeBusschere (12)
Frazier, DeBusschere (5)
Boston Garden
15,320
3–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
April 27
Boston
L 100–110
Walt Frazier (29)
Dave DeBusschere (17)
Bradley, DeBusschere (5)
Madison Square Garden
19,694
3–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
7
April 29
@ Boston
W 94–78
Walt Frazier (25)
Walt Frazier (10)
Dave DeBusschere (8)
Boston Garden
15,320
4–3
-
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
1
May 1
@ Los Angeles
L 112–115
Dave DeBusschere (25)
Dave DeBusschere (16)
Walt Frazier (8)
The Forum
17,505
0–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
2
May 3
@ Los Angeles
W 99–95
Bill Bradley (26)
DeBusschere, Reed (9)
Bill Bradley (4)
The Forum
17,505
1–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
3
May 6
Los Angeles
W 87–83
Willis Reed (22)
Dave DeBusschere (11)
Earl Monroe (6)
Madison Square Garden
19,694
2–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
4
May 8
Los Angeles
W 103–98
Dave DeBusschere (33)
Dave DeBusschere (14)
Walt Frazier (8)
Madison Square Garden
19,694
3–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
5
May 10
@ Los Angeles
W 102–93
Earl Monroe (23)
Willis Reed (12)
Frazier, Bradley (5)
The Forum
17,505
4–1
-

Player statistics

Season

Player	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Walt Frazier	78	3181	681	286	570	461	1648
Bill Bradley	82	2998	575	169	301	367	1319
Dave DeBusschere	77	2827	532	194	787	259	1258
Earl Monroe	75	2370	496	172	245	288	1163
Willis Reed	69	1876	334	92	590	126	760
Jerry Lucas	71	2001	312	81	510	317	704
Phil Jackson	80	1393	245	154	344	94	644
Dean Meminger	80	1453	192	81	229	133	457
Henry Bibby	55	475	78	73	82	64	229
Dick Barnett	51	514	88	16	41	50	192
John Gianelli	52	516	79	23	150	25	181
Tom Riker	14	66	10	15	16	2	35
Harthorne Wingo	13	59	9	2	16	1	20
Luther Rackley	1	2	0	0	1	0	0
Knicks	82	19730 240.6	3627 44.2	1356 16.5	3882 47.3	2187 26.7	8610 105.0
Opponents	82	19730 240.6	3291 40.1	1471 17.9	4100 50.0	1714 20.9	8053 98.2

|- align="center" | || 51 || || 10.1 || 1.7 || || 0.3 || 0.8 || 1.0 || || || 3.8 |- align="center" | || 55 || || 8.6 || 1.4 || || 1.3 || 1.5 || 1.2 || || || 4.2 |- align="center" | || 82 || || 36.6 || 7.0 || || 2.1 || 3.7 || 4.5 || || || 16.1 |- align="center" | || 77 || || 36.7 || 6.9 || || 2.5 || 10.2 || 3.4 || || || 16.3 |- align="center" | || 78 || || 40.8 || 8.7 || || 3.7 || 7.3 || 5.9 || || || 21.1 |- align="center" | || 52 || || 9.9 || 1.5 || || 0.4 || 2.9 || 0.5 || || || 3.5 |- align="center" | || 80 || || 17.4 || 3.1 || || 1.9 || 4.3 || 1.2 || || || 8.1 |- align="center" | || 71 || || 28.2 || 4.4 || || 1.1 || 7.2 || 4.5 || || || 9.9 |- align="center" | || 80 || || 18.2 || 2.4 || || 1.0 || 2.9 || 1.7 || || || 5.7 |- align="center" | || 75 || || 31.6 || 6.6 || || 2.3 || 3.3 || 3.8 || || || 15.5 |- align="center" | || 1 || || 2.0 || 0.0 || || 0.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || || || 0.0 |- align="center" | || 69 || || 27.2 || 4.8 || || 1.3 || 1.5 || 1.2 || || || 11.0 |- align="center" | || 14 || || 4.6 || 0.7 || || 1.1 || 1.1 || 0.1 || || || 2.5 |- align="center" | || 13 || || 4.5 || 0.7 || || 0.2 || 1.2 || 0.1 || || || 1.5 |- align="center" | || 82 || || 240.6 || 44.2 || || 16.5 || 47.3 || 26.7 || || || 105.0 |}

Opponents

Vs. [[1972–73 Atlanta Hawks season|Atlanta]]

New York tied 3–3 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	6	288	275	101			651
Hawks	6	288	256	115			627

Vs. [[1972–73 Baltimore Bullets season|Baltimore]]

New York tied 3–3 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	6	288	239	57			535
Bullets	6	288	242	84			568

Vs. [[1972–73 Boston Celtics season|Boston]]

New York tied 4–4 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	8	384	340	160			840
Celtics	8	384	336	173			845

Vs. [[1972–73 Buffalo Braves season|Buffalo]]

New York won 6–1 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	7	336	322	126			770
Braves	7	336	282	100			664

Vs. [[1972–73 Chicago Bulls season|Chicago]]

New York lost 1–3 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4	192	153	58			364
Bulls	4	192	134	89			357

Vs. [[1972–73 Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland]]

New York won 6–0 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	6	288	250	98			598
Cavaliers	6	288	220	96			536

Vs. [[1972–73 Detroit Pistons season|Detroit]]

New York won 3–1 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4	192	178	54			410
Pistons	4	192	164	63			391

Vs. [[1972–73 Golden State Warriors season|Golden State]]

New York tied 2–2 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4	197	176	68			420
Warriors	4	197	165	92			422

Vs. [[1972–73 Houston Rockets season|Houston]]

New York won 5–1 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	6
Rockets	6

Vs. [[1972–73 Kansas City-Omaha Kings season|Kansas City-Omaha]]

New York won 4–0 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4
Kings	4

Vs. [[1972–73 Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles]]

New York tied 2–2 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4
Lakers	4

Vs. [[1972–73 Milwaukee Bucks season|Milwaukee]]

New York tied 2–2 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4
Bucks	4

Vs. [[1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers season|Philadelphia]]

New York won 6–1 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	7	336	348	124			820
76ers	7	336	285	121			691

Vs. [[1972–73 Phoenix Suns season|Phoenix]]

New York won 3–1 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4
Suns	4

Vs. [[1972–73 Portland Trail Blazers season|Portland]]

New York won 3–1 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4
Trail Blazers	4

Vs. [[1972–73 Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle]]

New York won 4–0 in the regular-season series

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	4	192					410
SuperSonics	4	192					347

Opponent	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points Against
[Atlanta](1972-73-atlanta-hawks-season)	6
[Baltimore](1972-73-baltimore-bullets-season)	6
[Boston](1972-73-boston-celtics-season)	8
[Buffalo](1972-73-buffalo-braves-season)	7
[Chicago](1972-73-chicago-bulls-season)	4
[Cleveland](1972-73-cleveland-cavaliers-season)	6
[Detroit](1972-73-detroit-pistons-season)	4
[Golden State](1972-73-golden-state-warriors-season)	4
[Houston](1972-73-houston-rockets-season)	6
[Kansas City-Omaha](1972-73-kansas-city-omaha-kings-season)	4
[Los Angeles](1972-73-los-angeles-lakers-season)	4
[Milwaukee](1972-73-milwaukee-bucks-season)	4
[Philadelphia](1972-73-philadelphia-76ers-season)	7
[Phoenix](1972-73-phoenix-suns-season)	4
[Portland](1972-73-portland-trail-blazers-season)	4
[Seattle](1972-73-seattle-supersonics-season)	4
Opponents	82

Playoffs

Player	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Walt Frazier	17	765	150	73	124	106	373
Dave DeBusschere	17	632	117	31	179	58	265
Earl Monroe	16	504	111	36	51	51	258
Bill Bradley	17	587	99	40	57	45	238
Willis Reed	17	486	97	18	129	30	212
Phil Jackson	17	338	60	28	72	24	148
Jerry Lucas	17	368	54	20	85	39	128
Dean Meminger	17	323	31	19	37	37	81
John Gianelli	7	55	11	3	13	1	25
Henry Bibby	6	43	8	4	2	3	20
Harthorne Wingo	3	12	5	1	7	0	11
Dick Barnett	4	17	3	0	0	2	6
Knicks	17	822 48.4	746 48.0	273 17.2	756 47.9	396 24.2	1765 113.2
Opponents	17						1679 98.3

|- align="center" | || 4 || || 4.3 || 0.8 || || 0.0 || 0.0 || 5.5 || || || 1.5 |- align="center" | || 6 || || 7.2 || 1.3 || || 0.7 || 0.3 || 0.5 || || || 3.3 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 34.5 || 5.8 || || 2.4 || 3.4 || 2.6 || || || 14.0 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 37.2 || 6.9 || || 2.3 || 10.5 || 3.4 || || || 15.6 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 45.0 || 8.8 || || 4.3 || 7.3 || 6.2 || || || 21.9 |- align="center" | || 52 || || 7.9 || 1.6 || || 0.4 || 1.9 || 0.1 || || || 3.6 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 19.9 || 3.5 || || 1.6 || 4.2 || 1.4 || || || 8.7 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 21.6 || 3.2 || || 1.2 || 5.0 || 2.3 || || || 7.5 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 19.0 || 1.8 || || 1.1 || 2.2 || 2.2 || || || 4.8 |- align="center" | || 16 || || 31.5 || 6.9 || || 2.3 || 3.2 || 3.2 || || || 16.1 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 28.6 || 5.7 || || 1.1 || 7.6 || 1.8 || || || 12.5 |- align="center" | || 3 || || 4.0 || 1.7 || || 0.3 || 2.3 || 0.0 || || || 3.7 |- align="center" | || 17 || || 48.4 || 48.0 || || 17.2 || 47.9 || 24.2 || || || 113.2 |}

Opponents

[[1973 NBA Playoffs|1973 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals]] vs. [[1972–73 Baltimore Bullets season|Baltimore]]

New York won 4–1 in the [1973 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals](1973-nba-playoffs)

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	5	240	223	73			519
Bullets	5	240	204	70			478

[[1973 NBA Playoffs|1973 NBA Eastern Conference Finals]] vs. [[1972–73 Boston Celtics season|Boston]]

Barnett Bibby Bradley DeBusschere Frazier Gianelli Jackson Lucas Meminger Monroe Reed (Finals MVP) Wingo Coach Holzman

New York won 4–3 in the [1973 NBA Eastern Conference Finals](1973-nba-playoffs)

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	7	346	308	127			743
Celtics	7	346	289	139			717

[[1973 NBA Finals]] vs. [[1972–73 Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles]]

New York won 4–1 in the [1973 NBA Finals](1973-nba-finals)

Team	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points
Knicks	5	240	215	73	232	117	503
Lakers	5	240	197	110	264	87	484

Opponent	Games played	Minutes played	Field goals	Free throws	Rebounds	Assists	Points Against
[Baltimore](1972-73-baltimore-bullets-season)	5
[Boston](1972-73-boston-celtics-season)	7
[Los Angeles](1972-73-los-angeles-lakers-season)	5
Opponents	17

Media

Local TV

Local TV	Play-by-Play	Color Commentator
WOR-TV 9	Bob Wolff	Cal Ramsey

Some New York Knicks TV Games never aired on WOR-TV because of broadcast conflict with the New York Rangers (NHL).

Local cable TV

Local cable TV	Play-by-Play	Color Commentator
Manhattan Cable Television	Bob Wolff	Cal Ramsey

Local radio

Flagship station	Play-by-Play	Color Commentator
WNBC–AM 660	Marv Albert	John Andariese

Some New York Knicks radio games never aired on WNBC–AM because of broadcast conflict with the New York Rangers (NHL).

Awards and records

New York Knicks}}" width="5%"	Player	New York Knicks}}" width="9%"	Award
Willis Reed	NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
Walt Frazier	All-NBA Second Team
NBA All-Defensive First Team
Dave DeBusschere	NBA All-Defensive First Team

24th NBA All-Star Game

Main article: 1973 NBA All-Star Game

New York Knicks NBA All-Star representatives at the 1973 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago, Illinois at Chicago Stadium.

New York Knicks}}" width="5%"	Player	New York Knicks}}" width="5%"	Team	New York Knicks}}" width="5%"	Position	New York Knicks}}" width="5%"	Minutes	New York Knicks}}" width="5%"	Points	New York Knicks}}" width="5%"	Field goals
Bill Bradley	(Eastern Conference All-Stars)	F	12	4	2	5	0	0	1	0	2
Dave DeBusschere	(Eastern Conference All-Stars)	F, Starter	25	9	4	8	1	2	7	2	1
Walt Frazier	(Eastern Conference All-Stars)	G, Starter	26	10	5	15	0	0	6	2	1

Transactions

Transactions listed are from July 1, 1972, to June 30, 1973.

Trades

October 9, 1972	To Atlanta Hawks
Eddie Mast
for a 1973 2nd Round draft pick

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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