# 1973–74 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1973–74 NBA season was the Lakers' 26th season in the NBA and 14th season in Los Angeles. Having lost to the New York Knicks in the previous season's NBA Finals, the Lakers would make it to the NBA Playoffs, posting a 47–35 record, only to lose to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games.
Following the season, Jerry West retired after 14 seasons with the Lakers. He would later return to the Lakers as the head coach from 1976 to 1979, then served as general manager from 1982 to 2000.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Pacific Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Los Angeles Lakers | 47 | 35 | .573 | – | 30–11 | 17–24 | – | 14–12 |
| Golden State Warriors | 44 | 38 | .537 | 3 | 23–18 | 20–20 | 1–0 | 15–11 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 36 | 46 | .439 | 11 | 22–19 | 14–27 | – | 12–14 |
| Phoenix Suns | 30 | 52 | .366 | 17 | 24–17 | 6–34 | 0–1 | 11–15 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 27 | 55 | .329 | 20 | 22–19 | 5–34 | 0–2 | 13–13 |
| # | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB |
| 1 | z-Milwaukee Bucks | 59 | 23 | .720 | – |
| 2 | x-Chicago Bulls | 54 | 28 | .659 | 5 |
| 3 | x-Detroit Pistons | 52 | 30 | .634 | 7 |
| 4 | y-Los Angeles Lakers | 47 | 35 | .573 | 12 |
| 5 | Golden State Warriors | 44 | 38 | .537 | 15 |
| 6 | Seattle SuperSonics | 36 | 46 | .439 | 23 |
| 7 | Kansas City–Omaha Kings | 33 | 49 | .402 | 26 |
| 8 | Phoenix Suns | 30 | 52 | .366 | 29 |
| 9 | Portland Trail Blazers | 27 | 55 | .329 | 32 |
    z – clinched division title
    y – clinched division title
    x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1973–74 NBA Records :
| Team | ATL | BOS | BUF | CAP | CHI | CLE | DET | GSW | HOU | KCO | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | POR | SEA |
| Atlanta | — | 1–5 | 2–4 | 4–4 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 5–2 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 4–0 |
| Boston | 5–1 | — | 5–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 7–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 |
| Buffalo | 4–2 | 2–5 | — | 3–3 | 1–3 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 4–4 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Capital | 4–4 | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 1–3 | 6–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Chicago | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | — | 4–0 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 5–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
| Cleveland | 3–4 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–6 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 0–4 | 4–4 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 2–2 |
| Detroit | 4–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–5 | 2–2 | — | 5–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 6–0 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| Golden State | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 1–5 | — | 4–0 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 3–3 |
| Houston | 2–5 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 0–4 | 4–4 | 1–3 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 |
| Kansas City-Omaha | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–5 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–2 | — | 1–5 | 0–7 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–4 |
| Los Angeles | 0–4 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 5–1 | — | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 4–3 |
| Milwaukee | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 7–0 | 2–4 | — | 2–2 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 6–0 | 4–2 |
| New York | 5–1 | 2–5 | 4–4 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 4–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 |
| Philadelphia | 3–3 | 1–7 | 1–6 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 3–4 | — | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–4 |
| Phoenix | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–6 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 1–3 | — | 3–3 | 4–3 |
| Portland | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 0–6 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | — | 3–3 |
| Seattle | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 3–4 | 3–3 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1974 playoff game log :
Conference semifinals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 29
@ Milwaukee
L 95–99
Gail Goodrich (31)
Connie Hawkins (14)
Gail Goodrich (6)
Milwaukee Arena 10,938
0–1
2
March 31
@ Milwaukee
L 90–109
Gail Goodrich (21)
Happy Hairston (10)
Happy Hairston (7)
Milwaukee Arena 10,938
0–2
3
April 2
Milwaukee
W 98–96
Elmore Smith (30)
Elmore Smith (17)
Gail Goodrich (12)
The Forum 17,505
1–2
4
April 4
Milwaukee
L 90–112
Elmore Smith (20)
Elmore Smith (13)
Connie Hawkins (5)
The Forum
1–3
5
April 7
@ Milwaukee
L 92–114
Gail Goodrich (22)
Happy Hairston (11)
Gail Goodrich (6)
Milwaukee Arena 10,938
1–4 :
1974 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Gail Goodrich, All-NBA First Team
* Gail Goodrich, NBA All-Star Game
* Jerry West, NBA All-Star Game