As you probably heard, the Knicks are on the verge of their first title since 1972-73. That got me thinking about that last title team. While they are well-remembered for winning a second title for the Walt Frazier-Willis Reed core, most nostalgia focuses on the 1969-70 title and the epic Finals against the Lakers.
Indeed, in 1996, Roland Lazenby wrote in “The NBA Finals: A Fifty-Year Celebration,” the 1972-73 team was “so efficient that 20 years later Walt Frazier said he couldn’t recall much about [the team]. While the emotional ’70 team was etched in his memory, Frazier said he recalled the ’73 Knicks won the title, but that was about it.” So, let’s focus on the 1972-73 team and not just as a marker for the next five decades in New York without a ring to see what should be remembered more.
The Knicks between the titles
The 1969-70 Knicks went 60-22 and were the class of the NBA, leading the league in wins, SRS, and defense by substantial margins. The playoffs were a battle (they won brutal seven-game series with the Bullets and Lakers) but they were relatively young (Clyde was 25, Bill Bradley was 27, and Reed was 28).
1970-71: Upset by the Bullets
The Knicks were favorites in 1970-71 to come out of the East and they did end up being the clear class of the Conference again, going 52-30 and a 5.05 SRS, stats that were much higher than the next best team (Philly went 47-35 with a 1.81 SRS). The Knicks, however, lost a Game 7 at home to the Bullets (who were only 42-40).
How did the Knicks lose as clear favorites? Reed was injured again. The New York Times reported that “[i]n the showdown game, Reed twice took pain‐killing xylocaine shots for his chronic bad knee, once before the game and once at half‐time. They helped. His bruised shoulder still bothered his reach, but he could run and jump better than he had in two weeks and he emerged with 24 points and 12 rebounds.” Reed had struggled in the prior six games (10.5 ppg, .358 FG%, 9.2 rpg) and if he had been healthier this might not have come to a Game 7. Also, Frazier shot 5-13 and Dave DeBusschere 3-13 in Game 7.
1971-72: Return to Finals
New York started the next season poorly. On November 10, 1971, with the team at a tepid 6-8 record, they made the shocking trade where they acquired Earl Monroe from their archrival Bullets. The next day, they lost Reed for the season with another lower body injury and lost the game to Golden State at home. New York was 6-9 and had lost four straight games. They seemed to be headed to a bad season without Reed but the Knicks then got hot and finished 42-26.
Overall, the Knicks went 48-34 and were the second-best team in the East behind the Havlicek-Cowens Celtics, who were 56-26 (no other Eastern conference team was over .500). While Boston looked slightly better on paper, they split their six games (with New York outscoring Boston slightly) and the teams were pretty close in won-loss record after the Monroe trade.
New York beat the Bullets in the First Round and met Boston in the Conference Finals for an interesting contrast in styles. New York had a 108 tempo for the regular season (17th of 17 teams) versus 116.1 for Boston (2nd). Bullets coach Gene Shue predicted that New York would win: “Boston has a different type of fast break. They start it from wherever they happen to get the ball, off a rebound, an interception, an out‐of-bounds play. Their whole philosophy of the game is to run and keep running. But I think the Knicks can contain that, and if Boston has to set up plays it is less dangerous, and I think the Knicks will win.”
Shue was exactly correct. The teams were practically even in rebounds, but the Knicks held the Celtics to .416 FG% and shot .480 FG% themselves. New York also won the tempo battle decisively (107.9). The result was a 4-1 win for New York and a rematch with the Lakers in the Finals.
The Lakers, however, were much better than the 1969-70 version. They went a then-record 69-13 and had that amazing 33-game winning streak. They led the league in offense and pace and were second in defense. New York was 1-4 against them in the regular season and outscored by 5.4 ppg. This proved predictive for the Finals, as the Lakers won 4-1 and by almost the same point differential.
Without Reed, Wilt Chamberlain ran wild against the Knicks (19 ppg, .600 FG%, 23 rpg). The other tough matchup was a hobbled Monroe (7 ppg, .279 FG%) against Gail Goodrich (25.6 ppg, .469 FG%). Monroe told Dennis D’Agostino in “Garden Glory” that “during that series, I definitely wasn’t effective. That was one of the worst summers I ever had, because I knew I didn’t play well. Gail Goodrich ate me up during that whole thing, and my thing was to get back and try to get myself straightened out and try to redeem myself.”
Phil Jackson was more optimistic: “Willis goes out, we don’t think we have a chance. But we get to the Finals that year. Obviously, it was the Lakers’ year….They had a great team….We built on something, and with Willis coming back we really felt we were gonna be good [in 1972-73].”
1972-73: Title Time
Coming into the season, the key question was Willis Reed’s health. Jim O’Brien wrote in the 1972-73 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball that “without Reed the Knicks were like a building without a foundation that required a fragile, delicate balance to stand up….they had to extend themselves even further, to protect middle where few opponents dared to go when Reed played…..[The t]wo best teams, the Lakers and Bucks, are both in other divisions, and so are giant centers, like Wilt Chamberlain, Nate Thurmond, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Thus the Knicks aren’t at disadvantage in East if they have to go without Reed. [Jerry] Lucas can cope with centers in East like Dave Cowens of Celtics and Wes Unseld of Bullets, both smaller than standards for position dictate….If Reed is healthy, then look out….such a team would be hard to beat, and the one thing lacking with Lucas—a ‘physical’ defensive center—would be restored with Reed.”
On September 12, 1972, the Knicks signed Reed to a two-year extension. At the press conference for the signing, Reed said he was healthy: “The pain that used to drive me crazy is almost a bad memory. The only time I still feel some pain is when I sit for a long time, but I try to avoid that. But even that pain isn’t that bad; it’s kinda like a twinge…. The only thing that Doc warned me about was not to think that I was the Willis Reed of old right away. He wants me to work in gradually and to play at less weight than I have been in the past.”
The Knicks understood that Reed was not quite right and they did an early version of load management, having him platoon at center with Lucas. Previously, Reed averaged 37 mpg from 1964-65 through 1971-72 and was the team’s anchor on defense. Here are Reed’s numbers from 1972-73 compared with his prior seasons:
1964-65 to 1971-72: 36.8 mpg, 20.0 ppg, .525 TS%, 13.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 18.9 PER, .157 WS48
1972-73: 27.2 mpg, 11.0 ppg, .500 TS%, 8.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 15.4 PER, .149 WS48
Reed played in 69 games and started only 44. It was clear that the Knicks wanted Reed to be standing when they had to play Wilt or Kareem. Even in a reduced role, Reed made an impact. New York went 49-20 with Reed in the lineup and 8-5 when he was out.
Overall, New York went 57-25 (6.07 SRS) and were 3rd in offense and 4th in defense. This was the best Knick team since 1969-70. The 1972-73 Knicks earned their wins slightly differently than before. Frazier was still the backcourt star but they didn’t have a true second star. Reed was the MVP in 1969-70 (21.7 ppg, 13.9 rpg and was regular season MVP). Instead, this version of the Knicks just shared more. DeBusschere, Bradley, and Monroe ticked their scoring slightly and it was a true equal opportunity offense.
New York’s rivals seemed still pretty formidable:
-Baltimore: 52-30, 2.85 SRS
-Boston: 68-14, 7.35 SRS
-Milwaukee: 60-22, 7.84 SRS
-Lakers: 60-22, 8.16 SRS
The Knicks path was tough: they had to beat Baltimore, Boston, and probably the winner of the Bucks/Lakers showdown. New York had split the season series with each of the teams. The Knicks took the Bullets relatively easily, 4-1.
The True Finals?
The Boston-New York series was next. The teams split home wins and, in Game 3, New York won in Boston and Havlicek separated his right shoulder. He sat out Game 4 and New York won in double overtime, going up 3-1.
Hondo somehow came back for Game 5 and Boston won the next two games to force a Game 7 at the Boston Garden. The Knicks were in serious trouble of blowing a series that they had control of. In a preview of Game 7, Leonard Koppett wrote about New York’s poor play: “they had every opportunity to end the series—and produced their worst game of the playoffs. Their offense was disorganized, their two centers ineffective (in their own terms, apart from the obvious excellence of Dave Cowens), their defense spotty. That old, pre-championship Knick ailment—a lack of cohesion between frontcourt and backcourt—reappeared more strikingly than it had in a long time. Now they have one last chance to do what they say they can always do: pull themselves together and regain collective skill in a pressure situation.”
30 years later, Bradley told Dennis D’Agostino that “[a]fter we lost the sixth game, [Knicks President] Ned Irish came to practice and basically told us we were all a bunch of bums. He said he didn’t expect us to do anything in the seventh game, and that we had a chance to win it in the Garden and we didn’t. Of course, that was all psychological buildup.”
It may have worked. The Knicks answered the bell in Game 7, winning 94-78 in Boston. Frazier had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists while Havlicek was too hobbled to help (in 23 minutes, Hondo had 4 points on 1-6 shooting). Don Chaney noted that “Havlicek really shouldn’t have played in the final game, because he had to shoot with his left hand, and he’s a right handed player.” This win was the biggest moment of the 1972-73 Knicks season. Marv Albert said “[t]he big deal of that season was the Boston series….I think that was the real series, beating that team. Boston was very good.”
Rubber Match v. Los Angeles
Out West, the Bucks were upset early by the Warriors in the playoffs and the Lakers trounced Golden State 4-1. The Lakers had gone 0-4 against the Celtics and were pretty happy to see the Knicks instead. This was the rubber match between the Lakers and Knicks and, as Roland Lazenby wrote in “The Show,” Frazier said “it will be nice to see Jerry [West]. Between us it will be a battle of pride.”
Two days after winning in Boston, New York had to travel to Los Angeles and play the Lakers. L.A. got to a big early lead and held on to win 115-112. After that loss, the Knicks won four straight. Reed was huge in holding Wilt to 11.6 ppg, .524 FG%, 18.6 rpg, which sounds more impressive when you consider how dominant Wilt was in the 1971-72 Finals (19 ppg, .600 FG%, 23 rpg). Monroe also played much better against Goodrich. In general terms, New York just played better:
-The Knicks had 30 more assists than the Lakers (6 more per game)
-New York had really balanced scoring. Their top five players averaged between 15.6 and 18.6 ppg
-New York shot .459% and held the Lakers to .431% shooting
Dean Meminger called the victory over the Lakers “anti-climactic.” Monroe told D’Agostino that there was not much excitement: “when the final gun went off, I looked at my roommate Dean, and I said, ‘Dean this shit’s over with, man. Let’s go get some room service.’”
Albert summed it up exactly: “there was no real hoopla…..there were something like three or four reporters in there. We came back the next day, and there was some attention at the airport with the TV crews. And then it kind of went away. It means more now when you look back.”
Who should’ve won Finals MVP?
Given how balanced the Knicks attack it was not clear who would get the Finals MVP. Dick Schaap from Sport Magazine, who was presenting the award, said “[t]his was such a team victory that for the first time we’re presenting a most valuable player plaque to the other members of the team, the coach and the trainer.” Here’s how balanced the stats were for that series:
| Player | FG% | MP | PTS | TRB | AST |
| Bill Bradley | 0.444 | 39.8 | 18.6 | 4.8 | 3.4 |
| Walt Frazier | 0.479 | 46.0 | 16.6 | 6.8 | 5.2 |
| Willis Reed | 0.493 | 30.0 | 16.4 | 9.2 | 2.6 |
| Earl Monroe | 0.531 | 32.0 | 16.0 | 2.8 | 4.2 |
| Dave DeBusschere | 0.440 | 35.4 | 15.6 | 11.6 | 2.0 |
A plausible argument could’ve been made for each of them but Reed got the award because his presence against Wilt was a big difference from the previous year. Reed for his part said “that if he had had a vote, he would have selected Walt Frazier ‘maybe because I’m a big Walt Frazier fan.’”
Frazier had a pretty good argument. He played 46 mpg, initiated a precise offense, and held West well below his averages. Reed’s candidacy rests on the fact that the Knicks handled the Lakers so much better than they did in 1971-72, even if he played much fewer minutes than Clyde. I’d personally choose Frazier, but it was really close.
So, what do we take from the 1972-73 Knicks?
Unspectacular efficiency. Frazier was the only real star, but everything did hinge on Reed’s health. In fact, Reed was never healthy again after that title. He would play 19 games in 1973-74 and his career was over thereafter. The Knicks hovered around .500 for the rest of the decade and Reed’s replacements (big stars like Bob McAdoo and Spencer Haywood) could never replace him. Bradley summed it up during the 2013 reunion: “the most fun I ever had playing basketball was 1973. [In] ’70, it was a lot of dedication to the get to the top, but in ’73 the group of guys we had just was incredible.“
Gradually, the 1972-73 title, which was a muted celebration to begin with, became a reminder for future Knicks teams that fell short. It is fitting that New York will likely finally break the drought with this very memorable run.