# 1971–72 New York Knicks season

The 1971–72 New York Knicks season was the 26th season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Knicks compiled a 48–34 record in the regular season to finish second in the Atlantic Division and earn a berth in the NBA Playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. New York had acquired Earl Monroe in a trade with the Baltimore Bullets in November 1971.
In the first round of the playoffs, New York faced the Baltimore Bullets, who had defeated the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals the previous year. The Knicks won the series in six games and advanced to the conference finals, where they faced the Boston Celtics. With a 4–1 series victory, New York made the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. In the Finals, the Knicks were opposed by the Los Angeles Lakers, whom they had beaten in the 1970 NBA Finals. After winning Game 1 of the Finals 114–92 in Los Angeles, the Knicks lost the next four games and the series. Willis Reed only played 11 games in the regular season and missed the entirety of the playoffs with a knee injury.

## Draft picks

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 16 | Dean Meminger | G | United States | Marquette |
| 2 | 34 | Gregg Northington | F | United States | Alabama State |
| 3 | 50 | Kenny Mayfield | G | United States | Tuskegee |

## 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
## Playoffs

1972 playoff game log :
Conference semifinals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 31
@ Baltimore
L 105–108 (OT)
Walt Frazier (31)
Jerry Lucas (14)
Walt Frazier (6)
Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
0–1
2
April 2
Baltimore
W 110–88
Walt Frazier (30)
Dave DeBusschere (14)
Walt Frazier (9)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
1–1
3
April 4
@ Baltimore
L 103–104
Earl Monroe (28)
Jerry Lucas (12)
Bill Bradley (5)
Baltimore Civic Center 12,289
1–2
4
April 6
Baltimore
W 104–98
Bill Bradley (25)
Dave DeBusschere (13)
Walt Frazier (8)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
2–2
5
April 9
@ Baltimore
W 106–82
Lucas, Monroe (20)
Jerry Lucas (16)
Jerry Lucas (6)
Baltimore Civic Center 10,244
3–2
6
April 11
Baltimore
W 107–101
Lucas, Frazier (22)
Jerry Lucas (12)
Frazier, Monroe (5)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
4–2 :
Conference finals: 4–1 (home: 2–0; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 13
@ Boston
W 116–94
Walt Frazier (36)
Jerry Lucas (11)
Jerry Lucas (8)
Boston Garden 14,292
1–0
2
April 16
Boston
W 106–105
Dave DeBusschere (24)
Dave DeBusschere (17)
three players tied (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
2–0
3
April 19
@ Boston
L 109–115
Bill Bradley (29)
Dave DeBusschere (12)
Dave DeBusschere (6)
Boston Garden 15,315
2–1
4
April 21
Boston
W 116–98
Earl Monroe (26)
Dave DeBusschere (16)
Jerry Lucas (7)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
3–1
5
April 23
@ Boston
W 111–103
Dave DeBusschere (24)
Frazier, DeBusschere (11)
Walt Frazier (7)
Boston Garden 15,315
4–1 :
NBA Finals: 1–4 (home: 0–2; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 26
@ Los Angeles
W 114–92
Bill Bradley (29)
Dave DeBusschere (18)
Walt Frazier (11)
The Forum 17,505
1–0
2
April 30
@ Los Angeles
L 92–106
Walt Frazier (21)
Lucas, Jackson (11)
Walt Frazier (7)
The Forum 17,505
1–1
3
May 3
Los Angeles
L 96–107
Walt Frazier (25)
Jerry Lucas (14)
Jerry Lucas (6)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
1–2
4
May 5
Los Angeles
L 111–116 (OT)
Bill Bradley (26)
Dave DeBusschere (13)
Jerry Lucas (11)
Madison Square Garden 19,588
1–3
5
May 7
@ Los Angeles
L 100–114
Walt Frazier (31)
Dave DeBusschere (14)
Walt Frazier (10)
The Forum 17,505
1–4 :
1972 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Walt Frazier, All-NBA First Team
* Walt Frazier, NBA All-Defensive First Team
* Dave DeBusschere, NBA All-Defensive First Team