Tournament details | |
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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.
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.
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 |
Champion: Indiana Pacers
Division Semifinals
(1) Utah Stars vs. (4) San Diego Conquistadors: Stars win series 4-0
(2) Indiana Pacers vs. (3) Denver Rockets: Pacers win series 4-1
Division Finals
(1) Utah Stars vs. (2) Indiana Pacers : Pacers win series 4-2
Champion: Kentucky Colonels
Division Semifinals
(1) Carolina Cougars vs. (4) New York Nets: Cougars win series 4-1
(2) Kentucky Colonels vs. (3) Virginia Squires: Colonels win series 4-1
Division Finals
(1) Carolina Cougars vs. (2) Kentucky Colonels : Colonels win series 4-3
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.
Category | Total | Average | |||||
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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 |
Points
Rebounds
| Assists
Minutes
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