1971–72 Houston Rockets season

Last updated

1971–72   Houston Rockets season
Head coach Tex Winter
General manager Pete Newell
Owners
Arena
Results
Record3448 (.415)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Pacific)
Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television KHTV
Radio KPRC
< 1970–71 1972–73 >

The 1971-72 NBA season was the Rockets' 5th season in the NBA and 1st season in the city of Houston [1] following their relocation from San Diego, where the franchise played its first four seasons prior to moving to becoming the first NBA franchise in Texas.

Contents

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

1971–72 Houston Rockets roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
C 34 Cunningham, Dick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)245 lb (111 kg)1946-07-11 Murray State
PG 21 Egan, Johnny 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)180 lb (82 kg)1939-01-31 Providence
SF 40 Gibbs, Dick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)210 lb (95 kg)1948-12-20 UTEP
C 44 Hayes, Elvin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)235 lb (107 kg)1945-11-17 Houston
SG 22 Lantz, Stu 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)175 lb (79 kg)1946-07-13 Nebraska
SF 18 McLemore, McCoy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)230 lb (104 kg)1942-04-03 Drake
PF 25 Meely, Cliff 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)215 lb (98 kg)1947-07-10 Colorado
PG 23 Murphy, Calvin 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)165 lb (75 kg)1948-05-09 Niagara
SG 14 Newlin, Mike 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)200 lb (91 kg)1949-01-02 Utah
SF 4 Smith, Greg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)195 lb (88 kg)1947-01-28 Western Kentucky
PF 45 Tomjanovich, Rudy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)218 lb (99 kg)1948-11-24 Michigan
SG 33 Vallely, John 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg)1948-10-03 UCLA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Roster
Last transaction: December 16, 1971

Regular season

Season standings

W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6913.84136–531–72–121–3
x-Golden State Warriors 5131.6221827–821–203–314–10
Seattle SuperSonics 4735.5732228–1218–221–112–12
Houston Rockets 3448.4153515–2014–235–59–15
Portland Trail Blazers 1864.2205114–264–350–34–20
#
Team W L PCT
1z-Los Angeles Lakers 6913.841
2y-Milwaukee Bucks 6319.768
3x-Chicago Bulls 5725.695
4x-Golden State Warriors 5131.622
5 Phoenix Suns 4933.598
6 Seattle SuperSonics 4735.573
7 Houston Rockets 3448.415
8 Detroit Pistons 2656.317
9 Portland Trail Blazers 1864.220

Record vs. opponents

1971–72 NBA Records
TeamATLBALBOSBUFCHICINCLEDETGSWHOULALMILNYKPHIPHOPORSEA
Atlanta 2–40–44–20–53–34–23–23–21–40–52–33–13–33–24–01–4
Baltimore 4–22–23–31–44–21–53–21–43–21–40–52–44–04–13–12–3
Boston 4–02–26–03–24–25–15–02–35–01–42–33–36–02–34–02–3
Buffalo 2–43–30–61–33–34–22–41–30–40–40–41–53–30–42–40–4
Chicago 5–04–12–33–13–14–05–13–35–11–32–43–24–15–16–02–3
Cincinnati 3–32–42–43–31–36–22–32–30–41–40–52–22–22–32–20–5
Cleveland 2–45–11–52–40–42–61–30–42–21–30–41–52–40–44–20–4
Detroit 2–32–30–54–21–53–23–10–53–31–41–51–41–42–42–20–4
Golden State 2–34–13–23–13–33–24–05–05–11–52–22–34–12–34–24–2
Houston4–12–30–54–01–54–02–23–31–51–50–50–54–11–34–23–3
Los Angeles 5–04–14–14–03–14–13–14–15–15–14–14–15–04–26–05–1
Milwaukee 3–25–03–24–04–25–04–05–12–25–01–42–34–14–26–06–0
New York 1–34–23–35–12–32–25–14–13–25–01–43–23–31–43–13–2
Philadelphia 3–30–40–63–31–42–24–24–11–41–40–51–43–31–42–24–1
Phoenix 2–31–43–24–01–53–24–04–23–23–12–42–44–14–16–03–2
Portland 0–41–30–44–20–62–22–42–22–42–40–60–61–32–20–60–6
Seattle 4–13–23–24–03–25–04–04–02–43–31–50–62–31–42–36–0

Game log

1971–72 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 14 Philadelphia 105–94 Rudy Tomjanovich (28)0–1
2October 16@ Phoenix 108–128 Elvin Hayes (26)0–2
3October 17N Detroit 99–112 Calvin Murphy (26)0–3
4October 20N Chicago 110–125 Stu Lantz (33)0–4
5October 22@ Seattle 91–110Rudy Tomjanovich (18)0–5
6October 24 Los Angeles 113–103Elvin Hayes (35)0–6
7October 26@ Detroit104–103Elvin Hayes (30)1–6
8October 27@ Boston 97–108Rudy Tomjanovich (25)1–7
9October 28@ New York 94–112Calvin Murphy (21)1–8
10October 31 Buffalo 87–102 Cliff Meely (19)2–8
11November 3New York117–98Rudy Tomjanovich (26)2–9
12November 4 Portland 112–110Elvin Hayes (28)2–10
13November 7 Baltimore 109–106Elvin Hayes (38)2–11
14November 9@ Golden State 99–115Stu Lantz (30)2–12
15November 10Boston142–103Elvin Hayes (30)2–13
16November 12@ Milwaukee 102–111Stu Lantz (26)2–14
17November 13@ Chicago102–111Elvin Hayes (33)2–15
18November 16@ Baltimore107–110Elvin Hayes (31)2–16
19November 17@ Philadelphia118–112Elvin Hayes (33)3–16
20November 19@ Los Angeles99–106Elvin Hayes (26)3–17
21November 21N Golden State115–96 Mike Newlin (31)4–17
22November 24Philadelphia108–109Hayes, Tomjanovich (27)5–17
23November 28Phoenix116–110Elvin Hayes (30)5–18
24November 30@ Buffalo115–101Lantz, Murphy (18)6–18
25December 1@ Cleveland 106–116Lantz, Murphy (24)6–19
26December 3@ Detroit112–113Elvin Hayes (35)6–20
27December 4@ Boston107–117Elvin Hayes (28)6–21
28December 8Los Angeles125–120Elvin Hayes (31)6–22
29December 10 Atlanta 88–95Stu Lantz (28)7–22
30December 11@ Phoenix111–110Hayes, Murphy (24)8–22
31December 12Seattle98–100Elvin Hayes (34)9–22
32December 14@ Milwaukee98–106Cliff Meely (20)9–23
33December 15@ Atlanta117–115 (OT)Stu Lantz (30)10–23
34December 17@ Chicago109–98Stu Lantz (31)11–23
35December 18@ Cincinnati 126–116Elvin Hayes (29)12–23
36December 21@ Portland132–119Elvin Hayes (44)13–23
37December 26@ Los Angeles115–137Elvin Hayes (33)13–24
38December 29Phoenix124–106Stu Lantz (19)13–25
39December 30Atlanta115–129Elvin Hayes (42)14–25
40January 2Detroit109–107Elvin Hayes (26)14–26
41January 4Seattle110–119Calvin Murphy (28)15–26
42January 5Boston113–105Elvin Hayes (25)15–27
43January 9Golden State113–112Calvin Murphy (25)15–28
44January 11@ Seattle126–141Elvin Hayes (42)15–29
45January 15Cleveland109–112Elvin Hayes (30)16–29
46January 16New York109–108Elvin Hayes (24)16–30
47January 20@ Cincinnati104–87Elvin Hayes (27)17–30
48January 21@ Boston105–110Rudy Tomjanovich (25)17–31
49January 22@ Chicago108–115Elvin Hayes (23)17–32
50January 23@ Detroit109–107Stu Lantz (32)18–32
51January 25Portland104–118Elvin Hayes (27)19–32
52January 26N Chicago108–117Elvin Hayes (36)19–33
53January 28@ Los Angeles105–118Elvin Hayes (33)19–34
54February 2N Seattle88–111 Greg Smith (23)20–34
55February 4@ Portland113–114Elvin Hayes (28)20–35
56February 5Milwaukee119–112Stu Lantz (30)20–36
57February 6Atlanta113–120Calvin Murphy (27)21–36
58February 8N Seattle127–119Elvin Hayes (31)21–37
59February 11Baltimore95–116Calvin Murphy (28)22–37
60February 13Cincinnati111–112Calvin Murphy (31)23–37
61February 14@ Philadelphia130–116Elvin Hayes (28)24–37
62February 15@ Baltimore98–113Elvin Hayes (31)24–38
63February 16@ New York100–110Elvin Hayes (26)24–39
64February 18@ Buffalo108–96Elvin Hayes (27)25–39
65February 23N Los Angeles110–115Elvin Hayes (33)26–39
66February 26Detroit106–122Elvin Hayes (36)27–39
67February 27Golden State117–104Elvin Hayes (33)27–40
68March 1N Cincinnati108–96Hayes, Lantz (26)28–40
69March 3N Golden State107–108Rudy Tomjanovich (26)28–41
70March 4Cleveland130–123Stu Lantz (31)28–42
71March 5Chicago128–97Calvin Murphy (28)28–43
72March 9N Portland111–114Rudy Tomjanovich (29)29–43
73March 10Golden State119–116Calvin Murphy (35)29–44
74March 11Buffalo100–121Stu Lantz (29)30–44
75March 12Philadelphia112–121Rudy Tomjanovich (33)31–44
76March 16New York103–102Elvin Hayes (37)31–45
77March 18Milwaukee120–116 (OT)Elvin Hayes (39)31–46
78March 21@ Milwaukee94–111Calvin Murphy (21)31–47
79March 22@ Atlanta106–107Stu Lantz (29)31–48
80March 24@ Cleveland127–119Rudy Tomjanovich (35)32–48
81March 25@ Baltimore106–85Calvin Murphy (27)33–48
82March 26Portland109–131Elvin Hayes (30)34–48

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