Summary
There was one small franchise change entering the season: The Baltimore Bullets began playing in a new arena in Landover, Maryland, and became known as the Capital Bullets.
The playoff format also changed. The second-place teams no longer got automatic berths. Instead, the two teams that had the best records in each conference without winning their divisions advanced into the post-season and teams were seeded on the basis of their records.
All four first-place teams from 1972-73 repeated, but each of them won fewer games than they had the season before, a sign that some key players were aging. Wilt Chamberlain had retired, holding NBA records with 31,419 points and 23,924 rebounds. Five other future Hall-of-Famers were in their final seasons: Jerry West in Los Angeles, Oscar Robertson in Milwaukee, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, and Willis Reed in New York.
Although the Boston Celtics, who won the Atlantic Division, had some talented young players in center Dave Cowens and guard Jo Jo White, their scoring leader was the 33-year-old John Havlicek.
The playoffs followed form through the conference finals. The Lakers, though they had won the Pacific Division, had the fourth best record in the conference, so they had to play the Bucks in the first round. The Bucks, who led the league with 59 victories, eliminated the Lakers in five games and then swept the Chicago Bulls.
Meanwhile, the Celtics got past the Buffalo Braves in six games and beat the Knicks in five to advance to the finals.
Boston took a 3-2 lead in the series, with the sixth game at home. But the Bucks, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, won that game, 102-101, in double overtime. The series went back to Milwaukee, where the Celtics pulled off a surprisingly easy 102-87 win to take their first championship since 1969. Havlicek, who hit key baskets throughout the series, was the MVP.
The NBA added two new official statistical categories this season, steals and blocked shots.
The NBA added two new statistical categories. Larry Steele of Portland was the first official leader in steals per game and Elmore Smith of Los Angeles was the first leader in blocked shots. Offensive and defensive rebounds were also broken out for the first time.
