1972–73 Boston Celtics season Knicks: "Knicks win series 4–3" 1972–73 Boston Celtics season The 1972–73 Boston Celtics season was their 27th in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics finished the season with the best record in the league at 68–14. This mark is the Celtics franchise best. Third-year forward Dave Cowens won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tiny Archibald. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics lost to the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks. This table only displays picks through the second round. (1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Atlanta Hawks: "Celtics win series 4–2" (1) Boston
Original Celtics fourth place, while first-half winner Cleveland slumped badly to fifth place. Cleveland’s fall was precipitated by the hasty mid-season departure of star Honey Russell, who was exiled to Chicago after a disagreement with team owner Max Rosenblum. The Celtics easily disposed of the weakened Cleveland team in three straight games to take the ABL championship. In 1926, the American Basketball League, developed by sports entrepreneur George Preston Marshall, effectively railroaded the team into joining its ranks by prohibiting member teams from playing against them. The Original Celtics responded by winning the next two ABL titles. During their first full season