# 1972–73 Buffalo Braves season

The 1972–73 Buffalo Braves season was the 3rd season of the Buffalo Braves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Despite finishing with a worse record than their previous 2 seasons, their 21–61 record was good enough for 3rd place. The Braves showed improvement under new Coach Jack Ramsay. Rookie center Bob McAdoo provided the silver lining by winning the Rookie of the Year Award with 18.0 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game.
During the fifth game of the season versus the Boston Celtics on October 20, 1972, the team set an NBA record which still stands for most points in a single quarter with 58, and still managed to lose 126–118.

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 2 | Bob McAdoo | Forward | United States | North Carolina |
| 2 | 15 | Harold Fox | Guard | United States | Jacksonville |
| 3 | 32 | Bob Morse | Forward | United States | Penn |
| 4 | 49 | George Bryant | Guard | United States | Eastern Kentucky |
| 5 | 65 | Arnie Berman | Forward | United States | Brown |
| 6 | 82 | Ed Czernota | Center | United States | Sacred Heart (Connecticut) |
| 7 | 99 | Greg Kohls | Guard | United States | Syracuse |
| 8 | 115 | Andy Denny | Guard | United States | South Alabama |
| 9 | 131 | John Collins | Center | United States | SUNY Brockport |
| 11 | 158 | Jim Prokell | Guard | United States | Edinboro (Pennsylvania) |
| 12 | 167 | Frank Dewitt | Forward | United States | Virginia |
| 13 | 176 | Kim Huband | Forward | United States | North Carolina |
| 14 | 182 | Greg Corson | Center | United States | North Carolina |
| 15 | 189 | Paul Hoffman | Guard | United States | St. Bonaventure |
| 16 | 194 | Norman Bounds | Forward | United States | SUNY Brockport |

## Roster
### Roster Notes

* Center Cornell Warner and guard Walt Hazzard played in only 4 games and 9 games respectively before being waived in November.
* Guard Harold Fox played in only 10 games before being waived in December.
* Guard Dave Wohl came back to the franchise, now known as the Los Angeles Clippers, as an assistant coach from 1993 to 1994 and as its general manager from 2014 to 2017.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Atlantic Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Boston Celtics | 68 | 14 | .829 | – | 33–6 | 32–8 | 3–0 | 18–4 |
| x-New York Knicks | 57 | 25 | .695 | 11 | 35–6 | 21–18 | 1–1 | 16–6 |
| Buffalo Braves | 21 | 61 | .256 | 47 | 14–27 | 6–31 | 1–3 | 8–14 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 9 | 73 | .110 | 59 | 5–26 | 2–36 | 2–11 | 2–20 |
| # | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 1 | z-Boston Celtics | 68 | 14 | .829 |
| 2 | x-New York Knicks | 57 | 25 | .695 |
| 3 | y-Baltimore Bullets | 52 | 30 | .634 |
| 4 | x-Atlanta Hawks | 46 | 36 | .561 |
| 5 | Houston Rockets | 33 | 49 | .402 |
| 6 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 32 | 50 | .390 |
| 7 | Buffalo Braves | 21 | 61 | .256 |
| 8 | Philadelphia 76ers | 9 | 73 | .110 |

### Record vs. opponents

1972-73 NBA Records :
| Team | ATL | BAL | BOS | BUF | CHI | CLE | DET | GSW | HOU | KCO | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | POR | SEA |
| Atlanta | — | 3–4 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 4–4 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Baltimore | 4–3 | — | 1–5 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 8–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| Boston | 5–1 | 5–1 | — | 7–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 4–4 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| Buffalo | 1–5 | 1–5 | 0–7 | — | 2–2 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–6 | 7–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Chicago | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 3–4 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 5–2 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| Cleveland | 4–3 | 0–8 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–6 | 6–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 |
| Detroit | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | — | 2–4 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 2–4 |
| Golden State | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | — | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 4–3 |
| Houston | 4–4 | 2–5 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 1–3 | — | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Kansas City-Omaha | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–0 | — | 1–5 | 1–6 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
| Los Angeles | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 5–1 | — | 3–3 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 6–1 | 6–0 | 6–0 |
| Milwaukee | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 6–1 | 3–3 | — | 2–2 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 |
| New York | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–4 | 6–1 | 1–3 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 6–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 |
| Philadelphia | 0–6 | 1–5 | 0–7 | 1–7 | 0–4 | 0–6 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–6 | — | 0–4 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Phoenix | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–6 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 4–0 | — | 5–2 | 4–2 |
| Portland | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 3–1 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–5 | — | 3–4 |
| Seattle | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 4–3 | — |

### Game log
## Player statistics

Note: GP= Games Played; MPG = Minutes per game; FG% = Field goal percentage; FT% = Free throw percentage; RPG = Rebounds per game; APG = Assists per game; PPG = Points per game
| Player | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
| Bob Kauffman | 77 | 39.6 | .505 | .780 | 11.1 | 5.1 | 17.5 |
| Elmore Smith | 76 | 37.2 | .482 | .558 | 12.4 | 3.9 | 18.3 |
| Bob McAdoo | 80 | 32.0 | .452 | .774 | 9.1 | 3.2 | 18.0 |
| Randy Smith | 82 | 31.7 | .443 | .727 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 14.8 |
| Dave Wohl | 56 | 27.5 | .456 | .790 | 1.6 | 4.6 | 8.8 |
| John Hummer | 66 | 23.4 | .444 | .561 | 4.9 | 2.1 | 8.0 |
| Dick Garrett | 78 | 23.1 | .419 | .873 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 10.0 |
| Howard Komives | 67 | 21.9 | .380 | .867 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 6.1 |
| Bill Hewitt | 73 | 18.2 | .418 | .554 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 4.7 |
| Walt Hazzard | 9 | 14.9 | .417 | .500 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 5.9 |
| Fred Hilton | 59 | 12.4 | .387 | .774 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 7.2 |
| Cornell Warner | 4 | 11.8 | .471 | .500 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 4.3 |
| Harold Fox | 10 | 8.4 | .375 | .875 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 3.1 |

## Awards and honors

* Bob Kauffman, NBA All-Star
* Bob McAdoo, NBA Rookie of the Year

## Transactions

The Braves were involved in the following transactions during the 1972–73 season.

### Coaching Change

Offseason :
| Outgoing coach | Date Removed | 1971–72 Record | Incoming coach |
| Johnny McCarthy | Fired, March 27, 1972 | 22–60 | Jack Ramsay |

### Trades

| September 29, 1972 | To Buffalo Braves Howard Komives | To Detroit Pistons 1973 2nd round draft pick |