# 1971–72 Buffalo Braves season

A pair of rookies named Smith gave Buffalo fans reason for a bright future. The Braves repeated their 22–60 record from their inaugural season, and occupied the Atlantic Division basement. Elmore Smith and Randy Smith each had out standing rookie seasons with Elmore averaging 17.3 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game, while Randy added 13.4 points per game.

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 1 | 3 | Elmore Smith | Center | United States | Kentucky State |
| 2 | 19 | Fred Hilton | Guard | United States | Grambling |
| 2 | 26 | Amos Thomas | Forward | United States | Southwestern Oklahoma |
| 2 | 30 | Spencer Haywood | Forward | United States | Detroit Mercy |
| 4 | 53 | Jim O'Brien | Guard | United States | Boston College |
| 5 | 70 | Garry Nelson | Forward | United States | Duquesne |
| 6 | 87 | Glen Summors | Forward | United States | Gannon |
| 7 | 104 | Randy Smith | Guard | United States | Buffalo State |
| 8 | 121 | Craig Love | Center | United States | Ohio |
| 9 | 138 | Gary Stewart | Forward | United States | Canisius College |
| 10 | 154 | Don Ward | Guard | United States | Colgate University |
| 11 | 170 | Bill Warner | Forward | United States | Arizona |
| 12 | 184 | Butch Webster | Forward | United States | LSU |
| 13 | 197 | Pete Smith | Forward | United States | Valdosta |
| 14 | 209 | Ray Lavender | Center | United States | Drury College |
| 15 | 218 | William Chatmon | Forward | United States | Baylor |
| 16 | 226 | James Douglas | Guard | United States | Memphis |
| 17 | 230 | Nelson Isley | Guard | United States | LSU |
| 18 | 233 | Joey Meyer | Guard | United States | DePaul |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Atlantic Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Boston Celtics | 56 | 26 | .683 | – | 32–9 | 21–16 | 3–1 | 15–3 |
| x-New York Knicks | 48 | 34 | .585 | 8 | 27–14 | 20–19 | 1–1 | 11–7 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 26 | 14–23 | 14–26 | 2–3 | 6–12 |
| Buffalo Braves | 22 | 60 | .268 | 34 | 13–27 | 8–31 | 1–2 | 4–14 |
| # | 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 |
    z – clinched division title
    y – clinched division title
    x – clinched playoff spot

### 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
## 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 | 41.6 | .497 | .795 | 10.2 | 3.9 | 18.9 |
| Elmore Smith | 78 | 40.8 | .454 | .534 | 15.2 | 1.4 | 17.3 |
| Walt Hazzard | 72 | 33.2 | .451 | .782 | 3.0 | 5.6 | 15.8 |
| Randy Smith | 76 | 27.6 | .482 | .622 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 13.4 |
| Dick Garrett | 73 | 26.1 | .442 | .866 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 10.8 |
| Em Bryant | 54 | 22.6 | .459 | .600 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 5.1 |
| Fred Hilton | 61 | 22.1 | .389 | .738 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 11.6 |
| John Hummer | 55 | 21.6 | .390 | .468 | 4.2 | 1.3 | 5.2 |
| Cornell Warner | 62 | 20.0 | .443 | .744 | 6.1 | 0.9 | 6.2 |
| Mike Davis | 62 | 17.2 | .425 | .767 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 9.1 |
| Jerry Chambers | 26 | 14.2 | .433 | .688 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 6.8 |
| Bill Hosket | 44 | 13.5 | .492 | .808 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 5.0 |

## Awards and honors

* Bob Kauffman, NBA All-Star

## Transactions

The Braves were involved in the following transactions during the 1971–72 season.

### Coaching Change

In-season :
| Outgoing coach | Date Removed | 1971–72 Record | Incoming coach |
| Dolph Schayes | Fired, October 13, 1971 | 0–1 | Johnny McCarthy |

### Trades

| July 26, 1971 | To Buffalo Braves Walt Hazzard & Jerry Chambers | To Atlanta Hawks Don May & Herm Gilliam |