1973 ABA Playoffs
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 30 – May 12, 1973 |
| Season | 1972–73 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Indiana Pacers (3rd title) |
| Runner-up | Kentucky Colonels |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1973 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1972-1973 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Indiana Pacers defeating the Eastern Division champion Kentucky Colonels, four games to three in the ABA Finals.
Notable events
[edit]The teams with the three best records in the ABA that year failed to win the championship. The Carolina Cougars had the league's best record at 57–27 (.679), one game ahead of the Kentucky Colonels (56–28, .667) in the Eastern Division. The Utah Stars won the Western Division with a record of 55–29 (.655), four games ahead of the Indiana Pacers, who won the league championship after posting a regular season record of 51–33 (.607).[1]
The Pacers became the first team to win a third ABA championship.
The Colonels became the first team to lose two separate ABA championship series. The series also marked the second time in three years that the Colonels lost the ABA finals 4 games to 3; the same happened at the end of the 1971 ABA Playoffs against the Utah Stars.
Two years after the 1973 finals the Colonels and Pacers would meet again at the end of the 1975 ABA Playoffs with the Colonels winning the championship series.
The Pacers' George McGinnis was the Most Valuable Player of the ABA playoffs.
Bracket
[edit]| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | ABA Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Utah Stars | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | San Diego Conquistadors | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Utah Stars | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Division | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Indiana Pacers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Denver Rockets | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Indiana Pacers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Indiana Pacers | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Kentucky Colonels | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Carolina Cougars | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | New York Nets | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Carolina Cougars | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Kentucky Colonels | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Virginia Squires | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Kentucky Colonels | 4 | ||||||||||||
Division Semifinals
[edit]Western Division Semifinals
[edit](1) Utah Stars vs. (4) San Diego Conquistadors
[edit]April 2
|
| San Diego Conquistadors 93, Utah Stars 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–30, 23–19, 27–26, 22–32 | ||
| Pts: Stew Johnson 22 Rebs: Red Robbins 8 Asts: Chuck Williams 8 |
Pts: Ron Boone 27 Rebs: Gerald Govan 15 Asts: Ron Boone 8 | |
| Utah leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 4
|
| San Diego Conquistadors 92, Utah Stars 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–34, 26–19, 26–26, 17–24 | ||
| Pts: Chuck Williams 23 Rebs: Red Robbins 17 Asts: Taylor, Williams 5 each |
Pts: Willie Wise 29 Rebs: Gerald Govan 14 Asts: Willie Wise 5 | |
| Utah leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 7
|
| Utah Stars 97, San Diego Conquistadors 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–20, 24–27, 19–26, 30–23 | ||
| Pts: Willie Wise 24 Rebs: Zelmo Beaty 11 Asts: Willie Wise 7 |
Pts: Ollie Taylor 22 Rebs: Gene Moore 15 Asts: Chuck Williams 5 | |
| Utah leads series, 3–0 | ||
April 8
|
| Utah Stars 120, San Diego Conquistadors 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–30, 32–19, 35–19, 28–30 | ||
| Pts: Ron Boone 27 Rebs: Bob Warren 11 Asts: Wise, Boone 7 each |
Pts: Stew Johnson 19 Rebs: Gene Moore 10 Asts: Stew Johnson 4 | |
| Utah wins series, 4–0 | ||
(2) Indiana Pacers vs. (3) Denver Rockets
[edit]April 3
|
| Indiana Pacers 94, Denver Rockets 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Indiana leads series, 2–1 |
April 5
|
| Indiana Pacers 97, Denver Rockets 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Indiana leads series, 3–1 |
April 7
|
| Denver Rockets 107, Indiana Pacers 121 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Indiana wins series, 4–1 |
Eastern Division Semifinals
[edit](1) Carolina Cougars vs. (4) New York Nets
[edit]March 30
|
| New York Nets 96, Carolina Cougars 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Carolina leads series, 1–0 |
March 31
|
| New York Nets 114, Carolina Cougars 111 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–20, 21–29, 19–24, 33–30, Overtime: 11–8 | ||
| Series tied 1–1 |
April 3
|
| Carolina Cougars 101, New York Nets 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Carolina leads series, 2–1 |
April 5
|
| Carolina Cougars 112, New York Nets 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Carolina leads series, 3–1 |
April 6
|
| New York Nets 113, Carolina Cougars 136 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Carolina wins series, 4–1 |
(2) Kentucky Colonels vs. (3) Virginia Squires
[edit]April 3
|
| Kentucky Colonels 115, Virginia Squires 113 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–27, 20–21, 28–22, 27–33, Overtime: 12–10 | ||
| leads series, – |
Division Finals
[edit]Western Division Finals
[edit](1) Utah Stars vs. (2) Indiana Pacers
[edit]Eastern Division Finals
[edit](1) Carolina Cougars vs. (2) Kentucky Colonels
[edit]April 11
|
| Kentucky 113, Carolina 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Kentucky leads series, 1–0 |
April 20
|
| Kentucky 107, Carolina 112 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Carolina leads series, 3–2 |
April 24
|
| Kentucky 107, Carolina 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – | ||
| Kentucky wins series, 4–3 |
ABA Finals: (E2) Kentucky Colonels vs. (W2) Indiana Pacers
[edit]April 28
|
| Indiana Pacers 111, Kentucky Colonels 107 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 38–19, 27–32, 14–34, 21–15, Overtime: 11–7 | ||
| Pts: Freddie Lewis 29 Rebs: Mel Daniels 14 Asts: Freddie Lewis 13 |
Pts: Dan Issel 33 Rebs: Dan Issel 20 Asts: Jim O'Brien 8 | |
| Indiana leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 30
|
| Indiana Pacers 102, Kentucky Colonels 114 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–28, 24–29, 33–22, 22–35 | ||
| Pts: George McGinnis 28 Rebs: Mel Daniels 16 Asts: Mel Daniels 4 |
Pts: Artis Gilmore 29 Rebs: Artis Gilmore 26 Asts: Jim O'Brien 10 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
May 3
|
| Kentucky Colonels 92, Indiana Pacers 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–14, 18–26, 22–27, 26–21 | ||
| Pts: Artis Gilmore 28 Rebs: Artis Gilmore 16 Asts: Gilmore, Mount, Simon 6 each |
Pts: Mel Daniels 21 Rebs: George McGinnis 17 Asts: Freddie Lewis 8 | |
| Kentucky leads series, 2–1 | ||
May 5
|
| Kentucky Colonels 86, Indiana Pacers 90 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–29, 23–19, 27–26, 16–16 | ||
| Pts: Dan Issel 21 Rebs: Dan Issel 15 Asts: Walt Simon 4 |
Pts: George McGinnis 20 Rebs: Darnell Hillman 18 Asts: Freddie Lewis 6 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
May 8
|
| Indiana Pacers 89, Kentucky Colonels 86 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 23–18, 20–22, 27–22 | ||
| Pts: Freddie Lewis 31 Rebs: Mel Daniels 20 Asts: Daniels, Freeman 3 each |
Pts: Dan Issel 31 Rebs: Artis Gilmore 17 Asts: Artis Gilmore 11 | |
| Indiana lead series 3–2 | ||
May 10
|
| Kentucky Colonels 109, Indiana Pacers 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–24, 27–19, 25–33, 29–17 | ||
| Pts: Artis Gilmore 29 Rebs: Artis Gilmore 21 Asts: Louie Dampier 7 |
Pts: George McGinnis 26 Rebs: George McGinnis 15 Asts: Donnie Freeman 7 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
May 12
|
| Indiana Pacers 88, Kentucky Colonels 81 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–18, 18–23, 24–11, 22–29 | ||
| Pts: George McGinnis 27 Rebs: Darnell Hillman 13 Asts: Freeman, Brown, Keller each |
Pts: Artis Gilmore 19 Rebs: Artis Gilmore 17 Asts: Dan Issel 4 | |
| Indiana wins series 4–3 | ||
It was the last game for Gus Johnson, who recorded seven rebounds and played late defense against Artis Gilmore.
Four members of the Pacers eventually made the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: Gus Johnson (2010), Mel Daniels (2012), Roger Brown (2013), and George McGinnis (2017), to go along with head coach Bobby Leonard (2014) while the Colonels saw three players inducted in Dan Issel (1993), Artis Gilmore (2011), and Louie Dampier (2015).
Joe Mullaney left the Colonels after the series ended and was replaced by Babe McCarthy.
Statistical leaders
[edit]| Category | Total | Average | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Total | Player | Team | Avg. | Games played | |
| Points | Dan Issel | Kentucky Colonels | 521 | Julius Erving | Virginia Squires | 29.6 | 5 |
| Rebounds | Artis Gilmore | Kentucky Colonels | 260 | Mel Daniels | Indiana Pacers | 13.8 | 18 |
| Assists | Freddie Lewis | Indiana Pacers | 91 | Bill Melchionni | New York Nets | 6.2 | 5 |
Total leaders
[edit]|
Points
Rebounds
|
Assists
Minutes
|
