# 1973–74 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1973–74 Portland Trail Blazers season was the fourth season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Blazers finished at 27–55, a six-game improvement from the previous season.
The season started with promise as Portland opened the year with a 10–8 record. A nine-game losing streak followed and sent the Blazers sinking in the standings. They managed to cling to just under .500 but the months of January and February were unkind. Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks each garnered selections to the 1974 NBA All-Star game, but massive deficiencies on defense plagued the Blazers. Their lack of a size and experience at center allowed opponents to score almost at will. The Blazers lost 23 of 25 games and wound up with the worst record in the Western Conference. Coach Jack McCloskey was relieved of his duties at the end of the season.

## Draft picks
### Information from Sports Reference

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 15 | Barry Parkhill | G | United States | Virginia |
| 4 | 55 | Bird Averitt | G | United States | Pepperdine |
| 5 | 74 | Bernard Hardin | F | United States | New Mexico |
| 7 | 110 | Doug Richards | G | United States | Brigham Young |
| 8 | 128 | Eldridge Broussard | N/A | United States | Pacific University |
| 9 | 128 | Lee Haven | N/A | United States | Colorado |
| 10 | 163 | Ron Jones | N/A | United States | Oregon State |

## 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
## Awards and honors

* Sidney Wicks, NBA All-Star
* Geoff Petrie, NBA All-Star

## Transactions

* September 27, 1973 – Waived forward Bob Davis
* October 1, 1973 – Signed free agent guard Mo Layton
* October 14, 1973 – Traded guard Rick Adelman to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for a second round pick in the 1974 NBA draft (Phil Lumpkin was chosen).
* October 31, 1973 – Waived guard Charlie Davis and signed free agent guard Mark Sibley
* December 1, 1973 – Waived guard Mo Layton
* December 26, 1973 – Signed free agent guard Bob Verga
* January 8, 1974 – Waived guard Bernie Fryer
* May 20, 1974 – Forward Ollie Johnson was selected by the New Orleans Jazz in the 1974 NBA Expansion Draft
* June 12, 1974 – Waived guards Mark Sibley and Bob Verga