# 1971–72 Baltimore Bullets season

The 1971–72 Baltimore Bullets season was their 11th season in the NBA and ninth season in the city of Baltimore. The Bullets would stun their fans and the entire league by trading Earl "The Pearl" Monroe. The trade was done three games into the season and Monroe was sent to the rival New York Knicks. The Bullets received Dave Stallworth, Mike Riordan, and cash. The Bullets did not adjust well to not having Monroe as they finished the season with a 38–44 record. The losing record would still be good enough to win the Central Division. In the playoffs, the Bullets would face Monroe and the New York Knicks and be beaten by the Knicks in six games.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Central Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Baltimore Bullets | 38 | 44 | .463 | – | 18–15 | 16–24 | 4–5 | 9–9 |
| x-Atlanta Hawks | 36 | 46 | .439 | 2 | 22–19 | 13–26 | 1–1 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati Royals | 30 | 52 | .366 | 8 | 20–18 | 8–32 | 2–2 | 11–9 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 23 | 59 | .280 | 15 | 13–28 | 8–30 | 2–1 | 9–11 |
| # | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 1 | z-Boston Celtics | 56 | 26 | .683 |
| 2 | y-Baltimore Bullets | 38 | 44 | .463 |
| 3 | x-New York Knicks | 48 | 34 | .585 |
| 4 | x-Atlanta Hawks | 36 | 46 | .439 |
| 5 | Philadelphia 76ers | 30 | 52 | .366 |
| 5 | Cincinnati Royals | 30 | 52 | .366 |
| 7 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 23 | 59 | .280 |
| 8 | Buffalo Braves | 22 | 60 | .268 |

### Record vs. opponents

1971–72 NBA records :
| Team | ATL | BAL | BOS | BUF | CHI | CIN | CLE | DET | GSW | HOU | LAL | MIL | NYK | PHI | PHO | POR | SEA |
| Atlanta | — | 2–4 | 0–4 | 4–2 | 0–5 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 0–5 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 1–4 |
| Baltimore | 4–2 | — | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 0–5 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 |
| Boston | 4–0 | 2–2 | — | 6–0 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 5–0 | 2–3 | 5–0 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 2–3 |
| Buffalo | 2–4 | 3–3 | 0–6 | — | 1–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 0–4 | 2–4 | 0–4 |
| Chicago | 5–0 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | — | 3–1 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 6–0 | 2–3 |
| Cincinnati | 3–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 1–3 | — | 6–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 0–5 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–5 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 2–6 | — | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 4–2 | 0–4 |
| Detroit | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–5 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 3–1 | — | 0–5 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 1–5 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–4 |
| Golden State | 2–3 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 5–0 | — | 5–1 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
| Houston | 4–1 | 2–3 | 0–5 | 4–0 | 1–5 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–5 | — | 1–5 | 0–5 | 0–5 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 |
| Los Angeles | 5–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 | — | 4–1 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 5–1 |
| Milwaukee | 3–2 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 1–4 | — | 2–3 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 6–0 |
| New York | 1–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 1–4 | 3–2 | — | 3–3 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Philadelphia | 3–3 | 0–4 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 0–5 | 1–4 | 3–3 | — | 1–4 | 2–2 | 4–1 |
| Phoenix | 2–3 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 4–1 | — | 6–0 | 3–2 |
| Portland | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 4–2 | 0–6 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 0–6 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–6 | — | 0–6 |
| Seattle | 4–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 0–6 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 6–0 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1972 playoff game log :
Conference semifinals: 2–4 (home: 2–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 31
New York
W 108–105 (OT)
Archie Clark (38)
Wes Unseld (18)
Wes Unseld (6)
Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
1–0
2
April 2
@ New York
L 88–110
Archie Clark (18)
Unseld, Tresvant (10)
Archie Clark (7)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
1–1
3
April 4
New York
W 104–103
Archie Clark (35)
Unseld, Tresvant (12)
Unseld, Clark (9)
Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
2–1
4
April 6
@ New York
L 98–104
Archie Clark (22)
Wes Unseld (16)
Archie Clark (6)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
2–2
5
April 9
New York
L 82–106
Mike Riordan (16)
Wes Unseld (13)
Archie Clark (9)
Baltimore Civic Center 10,244
2–3
6
April 11
@ New York
L 101–107
Archie Clark (31)
John Tresvant (8)
Archie Clark (11)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
2–4 :
1972 schedule :

## Awards and honors

* Archie Clark, All-NBA Second Team
* Phil Chenier, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team