# 1972–73 Boston Celtics season

The 1972–73 Boston Celtics season was their 27th in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics finished the season with the best record in the league, and currently in franchise history, at 68–14. Third-year center Dave Cowens won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tiny Archibald. They also won the Atlantic Division for the second consecutive season.
In the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics lost to the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks in seven games.

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 10 | Paul Westphal | PG/SG | United States | USC |
| 2 | 27 | Dennis Wuycik | SF | United States | North Carolina |
| 3 | 44 | Wayne Grabiec | G | United States | Michigan |
| 4 | 61 | Nate Stephens | C | United States | Long Beach State |
| 5 | 77 | Bryan Adrian | G | United States | Davidson |
| 6 | 94 | Don Holcomb | C | United States | Memphis |
| 6 | 96 | Wally Rice | G | United States | Widener |
| 7 | 111 | Steve Previs | PG | United States | North Carolina |
| 8 | 127 | Sam McCamey | F | United States | Oral Roberts |
| 10 | 154 | Marty Hunt | G | United States | Kenyon |
| 11 | 165 | Mark Minor | SF | United States | Ohio State |
| 12 | 173 | Phil Stephens | C | United States | South Carolina State |

## 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
## Playoffs

1973 playoff game log :
Conference semifinals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 1
Atlanta
W 134–109
John Havlicek (54)
Dave Cowens (17)
Art Williams (12)
Boston Garden 11,907
1–0
2
April 4
@ Atlanta
W 126–113
John Havlicek (29)
Dave Cowens (25)
Jo Jo White (11)
Omni Coliseum 11,588
2–0
3
April 6
Atlanta
L 105–118
Jo Jo White (23)
Dave Cowens (18)
Jo Jo White (10)
Boston Garden 15,320
2–1
4
April 8
@ Atlanta
L 94–97
John Havlicek (21)
Paul Silas (22)
John Havlicek (5)
Omni Coliseum 11,675
2–2
5
April 11
Atlanta
W 108–101
John Havlicek (32)
Dave Cowens (20)
John Havlicek (11)
Boston Garden 12,525
3–2
6
April 13
@ Atlanta
W 121–103
Jo Jo White (33)
Paul Silas (17)
Jo Jo White (7)
Omni Coliseum 16,181
4–2 :
Conference finals: 3–4 (home: 2–2; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 15
New York
W 134–108
Jo Jo White (30)
Dave Cowens (15)
John Havlicek (11)
Boston Garden 15,320
1–0
2
April 18
@ New York
L 96–129
John Havlicek (21)
Dave Cowens (13)
John Havlicek (11)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
1–1
3
April 20
New York
L 91–98
John Havlicek (29)
Paul Silas (14)
John Havlicek (6)
Boston Garden 15,320
1–2
4
April 22
@ New York
L 110–117 (2OT)
Jo Jo White (34)
Paul Silas (23)
Jo Jo White (6)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
1–3
5
April 25
New York
W 98–97
Dave Cowens (32)
Paul Silas (20)
Jo Jo White (7)
Boston Garden 15,320
2–3
6
April 27
@ New York
W 110–100
Dave Cowens (26)
Dave Cowens (14)
Jo Jo White (7)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
3–3
7
April 29
New York
L 78–94
Dave Cowens (24)
Paul Silas (16)
Dave Cowens (5)
Boston Garden 15,320
3–4 :
1973 schedule :

## Awards, records and milestones

* Most Valuable Player: Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
* Coach of the Year: Tom Heinsohn, Boston Celtics
* All-NBA First Team:
** John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
* NBA All-Defensive Team:
* First Team:
** John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
* Second Team:
** Paul Silas, Boston Celtics
** Don Chaney, Boston Celtics