# 1973–74 Boston Celtics season

The 1973–74 Boston Celtics season was their 28th in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics won their 12th title, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a seven-game series. The Celtics also won their division for the third consecutive season. This was their 13th finals appearance, and first since 1968–69.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Atlantic Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Boston Celtics | 56 | 26 | .683 | – | 26–6 | 21–18 | 9–2 | 17–5 |
| x-New York Knicks | 49 | 33 | .598 | 7 | 28–13 | 21–19 | 0–1 | 10–12 |
| x-Buffalo Braves | 42 | 40 | .512 | 14 | 19–13 | 17–21 | 6–6 | 12–10 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 25 | 57 | .305 | 31 | 14–23 | 9–30 | 2–4 | 5–17 |
| # | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB |
| 1 | z-Boston Celtics | 56 | 26 | .683 | – |
| 2 | x-New York Knicks | 49 | 33 | .598 | 7 |
| 3 | y-Capital Bullets | 47 | 35 | .573 | 9 |
| 4 | x-Buffalo Braves | 42 | 40 | .512 | 14 |
| 5 | Atlanta Hawks | 35 | 47 | .427 | 21 |
| 6 | Houston Rockets | 32 | 50 | .390 | 24 |
| 7 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 29 | 53 | .354 | 27 |
| 8 | Philadelphia 76ers | 25 | 57 | .305 | 31 |

### 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
## Playoffs

1974 playoff game log :
Conference Semifinals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 30
Buffalo
W 107–97
Jo Jo White (24)
Dave Cowens (18)
John Havlicek (12)
Boston Garden 14,300
1–0
2
April 2
@ Buffalo
L 105–115
Jo Jo White (27)
Dave Cowens (16)
John Havlicek (7)
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 17,507
1–1
3
April 3
Buffalo
W 120–107
John Havlicek (43)
Dave Cowens (19)
John Havlicek (8)
Boston Garden 14,656
2–1
4
April 6
@ Buffalo
L 102–104
Don Nelson (24)
Dave Cowens (14)
John Havlicek (8)
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 18,119
2–2
5
April 9
Buffalo
W 100–97
John Havlicek (25)
Dave Cowens (12)
Art Williams (8)
Boston Garden 15,320
3–2
6
April 12
@ Buffalo
W 106–104
John Havlicek (30)
Dave Cowens (17)
John Havlicek (7)
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 18,257
4–2 :
Conference Finals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 14
New York
W 113–88
John Havlicek (25)
Dave Cowens (13)
John Havlicek (12)
Boston Garden 14,101
1–0
2
April 16
@ New York
W 111–99
John Havlicek (27)
Dave Cowens (18)
Jo Jo White (6)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
2–0
3
April 19
New York
L 100–103
Dave Cowens (28)
Dave Cowens (22)
Art Williams (5)
Boston Garden 15,320
2–1
4
April 21
@ New York
W 98–91
John Havlicek (36)
Paul Silas (14)
Jo Jo White (9)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
3–1
5
April 24
New York
W 105–94
John Havlicek (33)
Dave Cowens (14)
John Havlicek (5)
Boston Garden 15,320
4–1 :
NBA Finals: 4–3 (home: 1–2; road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 28
@ Milwaukee
W 98–83
John Havlicek (26)
Dave Cowens (17)
Cowens, White (7)
Milwaukee Arena 10,938
1–0
2
April 30
@ Milwaukee
L 96–105 (OT)
Jo Jo White (25)
Dave Cowens (11)
Dave Cowens (6)
Milwaukee Arena 10,938
1–1
3
May 3
Milwaukee
W 95–83
Dave Cowens (30)
John Havlicek (12)
Jo Jo White (8)
Boston Garden 15,320
2–1
4
May 5
Milwaukee
L 89–97
John Havlicek (33)
Paul Silas (12)
Jo Jo White (9)
Boston Garden 15,320
2–2
5
May 7
@ Milwaukee
W 96–87
Havlicek, Cowens (28)
Paul Silas (16)
Dave Cowens (6)
Milwaukee Arena 10,938
3–2
6
May 10
Milwaukee
L 101–102 (2OT)
John Havlicek (36)
Havlicek, Silas (9)
Jo Jo White (11)
Boston Garden 15,320
3–3
7
May 12
@ Milwaukee
W 102–87
Dave Cowens (28)
Dave Cowens (14)
Havlicek, Westphal (6)
Milwaukee Arena 10,938
4–3 :
1974 schedule :