# 1971–72 Chicago Bulls season

The 1971–72 NBA season was the Bulls' sixth season in the NBA.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Midwest Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| y-Milwaukee Bucks | 63 | 19 | .768 | – | 31–5 | 27–12 | 5–2 | 13–5 |
| x-Chicago Bulls | 57 | 25 | .695 | 6 | 29–12 | 26–12 | 2–1 | 12–6 |
| Phoenix Suns | 49 | 33 | .598 | 14 | 30–11 | 19–20 | 0–2 | 7–11 |
| Detroit Pistons | 26 | 56 | .317 | 37 | 16–25 | 9–30 | 1–1 | 4–14 |
| # | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT |
| 1 | z-Los Angeles Lakers | 69 | 13 | .841 |
| 2 | y-Milwaukee Bucks | 63 | 19 | .768 |
| 3 | x-Chicago Bulls | 57 | 25 | .695 |
| 4 | x-Golden State Warriors | 51 | 31 | .622 |
| 5 | Phoenix Suns | 49 | 33 | .598 |
| 6 | Seattle SuperSonics | 47 | 35 | .573 |
| 7 | Houston Rockets | 34 | 48 | .415 |
| 8 | Detroit Pistons | 26 | 56 | .317 |
| 9 | Portland Trail Blazers | 18 | 64 | .220 |
    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: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 28
@ Los Angeles
L 80–95
Jerry Sloan (18)
Clifford Ray (17)
Norm Van Lier (4)
The Forum 17,505
0–1
2
March 30
@ Los Angeles
L 124–131
Bob Love (26)
Clifford Ray (12)
Norm Van Lier (10)
The Forum 17,505
0–2
3
April 2
Los Angeles
L 101–108
Norm Van Lier (22)
Clifford Ray (20)
Norm Van Lier (8)
Chicago Stadium 17,805
0–3
4
April 4
Los Angeles
L 97–108
Clifford Ray (20)
Clifford Ray (17)
Norm Van Lier (11)
Chicago Stadium 18,847
0–4 :
1972 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Bob Love, All-NBA Second Team
* Jerry Sloan, NBA All-Defensive First Team
* Norm Van Lier, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
* Bob Love, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
* Clifford Ray, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
* Bob Love, NBA All-Star Game