# 1973–74 New York Knicks season

The 1973–74 New York Knicks season was the 28th season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Knicks entered the season as the defending NBA champions, having defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1973 NBA Finals in five games to win their second championship. In the regular season, the Knicks finished in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 49–33 record, and qualified for the NBA Playoffs for the eighth consecutive year.
New York opened the 1974 playoffs against the Capital Bullets. With a 4–3 series victory, the Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, where they faced the Boston Celtics. The Celtics, who later won the NBA Finals, defeated the Knicks in five games, ending New York's title defense.

## Draft picks

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 14 | Mel Davis | F | United States | St. John's |
| 2 | 28 | Pat McFarland | F/G | United States | Saint Joseph's |
| 3 | 49 | Allie McGuire | F | United States | Marquette |
| 4 | 66 | George Karl | G | United States | North Carolina |
| 5 | 83 | Dennis Bell | F | United States | Drake |

## 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 |
    z – clinched division title
    y – clinched division title
    x – clinched playoff spot

### 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: 4–3 (home: 3–1; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 29
Capital
W 102–91
Walt Frazier (20)
Walt Frazier (12)
Dave DeBusschere (7)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
1–0
2
March 31
@ Capital
L 87–99
Dave DeBusschere (20)
Dave DeBusschere (10)
Jerry Lucas (5)
Capital Centre 16,522
1–1
3
April 2
Capital
L 79–88
Walt Frazier (20)
Dave DeBusschere (12)
DeBusschere, Meminger (5)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
1–2
4
April 5
@ Capital
W 101–93 (OT)
Earl Monroe (23)
Walt Frazier (11)
Walt Frazier (6)
Capital Centre 19,035
2–2
5
April 7
Capital
W 106–105
Walt Frazier (38)
Dave DeBusschere (8)
Walt Frazier (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
3–2
6
April 10
@ Capital
L 92–109
Walt Frazier (25)
Phil Jackson (8)
Walt Frazier (10)
Capital Centre 19,025
3–3
7
April 12
Capital
W 91–81
Earl Monroe (20)
DeBusschere, Gianelli (15)
Dave DeBusschere (7)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
4–3 :
Conference finals: 1–4 (home: 0–2; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 14
@ Boston
L 88–113
Walt Frazier (16)
Dave DeBusschere (10)
Meminger, Bibby (3)
Boston Garden 14,101
0–1
2
April 16
Boston
L 99–111
Bill Bradley (20)
Dave DeBusschere (9)
Walt Frazier (4)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
0–2
3
April 19
@ Boston
W 103–100
Walt Frazier (38)
Frazier, Gianelli (10)
Walt Frazier (4)
Boston Garden 15,320
1–2
4
April 21
Boston
L 91–98
Walt Frazier (25)
John Gianelli (9)
Earl Monroe (5)
Madison Square Garden 19,694
1–3
5
April 24
@ Boston
L 94–105
Phil Jackson (27)
Phil Jackson (9)
Walt Frazier (6)
Boston Garden 15,320
1–4 :
1974 schedule :

## Awards and records

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