1972/1973 NBA Champion New York Knicks

After winning the NBA Championship in 1970, the Knicks returned to the playoffs in 1971 but fell one win short of reaching the NBA Finals. In 1972, they returned to the Finals but lost to the Lakers in five games.

With many of their players getting older and Captain Willis Reed battling serious injuries, the Knicks knew that the 1972/73 season might be their last chance to win a second NBA Championship.

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STARTING 5 STILL INTACT

The five starting players from the 1969/70 Championship team were still there, but at 36, guard Dick Barnett had lost his starting spot to the much younger Earl Monroe, acquired from the Baltimore Bullets in 1971.

Walt Frazier remained the other starting guard, while Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere remained the starting forwards. The often-injured Willis Reed split time at center with Jerry Lucas, acquired from the SF Warriors in 1971.

The Knicks got off to a great start, winning 17 of their first 20 games. They cooled off considerably, going 11-7 over their next eighteen games. From December 28 to January 16, the Knicks won eleven consecutive games.

The NBA All-Star Game was held on Jan 23, with DeBusschere, Bradley, Monroe, and Frazier named to the team. The Knicks entered the second half of the season with an impressive 39-12 record. Unfortunately for the Knicks, they were in the same division as the 39-7 Boston Celtics.

After the All-Star game break, the Knicks won four in a row, including two wins over Boston. Just when it looked like they were gaining ground on the Celtics, trailing by only three games, the Knicks went into a slump, winning only 8 of their next 17 games.

However, they righted the ship, winning six of their next seven games. Having already clinched a playoff spot, Coach Red Holtzman rested his starters, and they dropped the final three games of the regular season.

New York’s 57-25 record was the fourth-best in the NBA. Walt Frazier led the team in scoring, averaging 21.1 points per game. Dave Debusschere led the team in rebounds, averaging 10.2 per game.

1973 NBA Post-Season

The Knicks’ first-round playoff opponent was the Baltimore Bullets. The Bullets were no match for the Knicks, who defeated them four games to one.
Next up for the Knickerbockers were the Boston Celtics, whose 68-14 record was the second-best in NBA history.

The Celtics were heavily favored to defeat the Knicks, and after an easy 134-108 win in game one of the series, it seemed those predictions were accurate. But the Knicks were not intimidated. Having defeated Boston four of the eight times the teams met in the regular season, they felt confident they could win four of the next six games.

Back home for game two, a frenzied Madison Square Garden crowd of 19,694 watched the Knicks demolish the Celtics, 129-96. Game three, played at the Boston Garden, was much closer, but the Knicks prevailed, 98-91.

Game four was a classic, going into double overtime, with the Knicks coming out on top, 117-110. Walt Frazier scored 37 points. One more win and the Knicks would be heading to their third NBA Championship in four years. But the Celtics had an outstanding team, and they came back to win games five and six. It all came down to the seventh and deciding game.

The Knicks, playing the tenacious defense they were known for, held NBA MVP Dave Cowens to 24 points and became the first team to defeat the Celtics on their home court in a deciding Game 7. The final score was New York 94, Boston 78. Now it was on to LA to play the Lakers for the third time in four years.

The Lakers entered the finals with an impressive 68-22 record (including the playoffs) and were favored to defeat the Knicks, as they had done the previous year.

1973 NBA FINALS

LA won the first game 115-112. Lakers guard Gail Goodrich scored 30 points, and although the Knicks held Wilt Chamberlain to just 12 points, Chamberlain still grabbed 20 rebounds. Dave DeBusschere led the Knicks with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

Game two was another close contest, but this time the Knicks won 99-95. Bill Bradley scored 26 points, and the Knicks’ defense held Wilt Chamberlain to just five points.

Game three was a defensive battle, which the Knicks won 87-83. Captain Willis Reed did an outstanding job containing Wilt Chamberlain, holding him to 13 rebounds and five points. Reed was the Knicks’ top scorer with 22 points.

The Knicks’ aggressive defense forced critical turnovers in Game 4 and held the Lakers to fewer than 100 points for the third straight game. Dave DeBusschere had another outstanding game, scoring 33 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

The Knicks shut the door on LA in Game 5, winning 102-93. Earl Monroe had the hot hand for the Knicks, scoring 23 points. Willis Reed, who averaged 16.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, was named the MVP. It wasn’t his stats that earned him the MVP so much as his ability to neutralize Wilt Chamberlain, who played his final NBA game. Reed, who had played the entire season with a bad knee, played one more season before retiring.

The 1972/73 New York Knicks were not a dominant team, but they exemplified what teamwork was all about. Coach Red Holzman demanded unselfish play, passing to the open man, and above all else, defense!

The entire 1972/73 Knicks starting lineup is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as is the 1969/70 starting lineup. Willis Reed and Bill Bradley were inducted in 1982. Dave DeBusschere joined them the following year. In 1987, Walt Frazier, known as Cyde, was inducted. Earl “The Pearl” Monroe joined his teammates in 1990.

Dick Barnett was inducted in 2024. Jerry Lucas, who played for the Knicks for four seasons (1971-1974), was inducted in 1980. Coach Red Holtzman joined his former players in 1986. Phil Jackson was inducted in 2007, but as a coach, not a player.

The Knicks would not return to the NBA Finals until 1994, where they lost to the Houston Rockets four games to three. Five years later, they were back in the Finals again, this time losing to the San Antonio Spurs four games to one. In 2026, the Knicks played the Spurs for the title again, this time winning four games to one. It is their first NBA title in 53 years.

Mark Morthier is the host of Yesterday’s Sports, a podcast dedicated to reliving memorable sports moments from his childhood days and beyond. He grew up in New Jersey just across from New York City, so many of his episodes revolve around the great sport’s teams of the 70s for the New York area.

He is also an author of No Nonsense, Old School Weight Training (Second Edition): A Guide for People with Limited Time and Running Wild: (Growing Up in the 1970s)