# 1972–73 Indiana Pacers season

The 1972–73 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's sixth season in the ABA and sixth as a team. The Pacers finished second in the Western Division and won their third ABA title. In a rematch of the 1972 division semifinals, the Pacers eliminated the Denver Rockets. After defeating the Rockets in five games, the Pacers eliminated the Utah Stars in six games. The Eastern Division champion Kentucky Colonels appeared in the ABA Championships for the second time and were defeated by the Pacers in seven games.

## Offseason
### ABA Draft

| Player | School/Club Team |
| Ed Ratleff | Long Beach State |
| Nate Stephens | Long Beach State |
| Oscar Evans | Butler |
| George Adams | Gardner-Webb |
| Rich Garner | Manhattan |
| Cavin Anderson | Valley City |
| Wardell Dyson | Shaw |
| Jolly Spight | Santa Clara |
| Bill Burton | Eastern Kentucky |
| Wally Rice | Penn Military |
| Lee Sims | Morehead State |
| Nate Williams | Utah State |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Pacers points | Opponents | Record |
| 1 | | | | | | |
| 2 | | | | | | |

### Season standings

1972–73 ABA Western Standings :
| Western Division | W | L | PCT. | GB |
| Utah Stars | 55 | 29 | .655 | – |
| Indiana Pacers | 51 | 33 | .607 | 4 |
| Denver Rockets | 47 | 37 | .560 | 8 |
| San Diego Conquistadors | 30 | 54 | .357 | 25 |
| Dallas Chaparrals | 28 | 56 | .333 | 27 |

## Player stats
### Regular season

| Player | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
| George McGinnis | 82 | 40.8 | .495 | .250 | .665 | 12.5 | 2.5 | 27.6 |
| Mel Daniels | 81 | 38.3 | .482 | .250 | .722 | 15.4 | 2.2 | 18.5 |
| Freddie Lewis | 72 | 30.8 | .436 | .345 | .822 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 14.9 |
| Darnell Hillman | 84 | 30.3 | .446 | .000 | .587 | 8.8 | 1.5 | 9.6 |
| Roger Brown | 72 | 30.2 | .474 | .356 | .822 | 4.8 | 2.8 | 12.6 |
| Donnie Freeman | 77 | 28.2 | .442 | .333 | .808 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 14.3 |
| Billy Keller | 83 | 27.1 | .433 | .320 | .870 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 13.8 |
| Don Buse | 77 | 19.3 | .453 | .208 | .752 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 5.4 |
| Gus Johnson | 50 | 15.1 | .441 | .190 | .738 | 4.9 | 1.2 | 6.0 |
| George Peeples | 9 | 6.2 | .286 | .000 | .545 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| Craig Raymond | 6 | 5.5 | .250 | 0.0 | .500 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Bill Newton | 24 | 4.9 | .429 | .500 | .500 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 2.4 |
| Bob Arnzen | 23 | 4.8 | .526 | .000 | .750 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 2.0 |

## Playoffs

Western Division Semifinals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | March 31 | Indiana | 114–91 | 1–0 | 7,051 |
| 2 | April 1 | Denver | 106–93 | 2–0 | 7,235 |
| 3 | April 3 | Denver | 94–105 | 2–1 | 5,335 |
| 4 | April 5 | Denver | 97–95 | 3–1 | 6,904 |
| 5 | April 7 | Indiana | 121–107 | 4–1 | 9,816 |
Western Division Finals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | April 12 | Utah | 107–124 | 0–1 | 7,712 |
| 2 | April 14 | Utah | 116–110 | 1–1 | 12,233 |
| 3 | April 16 | Indiana | 118–108 | 2–1 | 9,353 |
| 4 | April 18 | Indiana | 103–104 | 2–2 | 10,079 |
| 5 | April 19 | Utah | 104–102 | 3–2 | 12,453 |
| 6 | April 21 | Indiana | 107–98 | 4–2 | 9,529 |
ABA Finals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | April 28 | Kentucky | 111–107 (OT) | 1–0 | 12,119 |
| 2 | April 30 | Kentucky | 102–114 | 1–1 | 13,408 |
| 3 | May 3 | Indiana | 88–92 | 1–2 | 10,079 |
| 4 | May 5 | Indiana | 90–86 | 2–2 | 9,498 |
| 5 | May 8 | Kentucky | 89–86 | 3–2 | 16,779 |
| 6 | May 10 | Indiana | 93–109 | 3–3 | 10,079 |
| 7 | May 12 | Kentucky | 88–81 | 4–3 | 16,597 |

## Awards, records, and honors

* George McGinnis, appeared in the 1973 ABA All-Star Game
* Mel Daniels, appeared in the 1973 ABA All-Star Game