1972–73 Indiana Pacers season


The 1972–73 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's sixth season in the ABA and sixth as a team. The Pacers finished second in the Western Division and won their third ABA title.
In a rematch of the 1972 division semifinals, the Pacers eliminated the Denver Rockets. After defeating the Rockets in five games, the Pacers eliminated the Utah Stars in six games. The Eastern Division champion Kentucky Colonels appeared in the ABA Championships for the second time and were defeated by the Pacers in seven games.

Offseason

ABA Draft

PlayerPositionNationalitySchool/Club Team
Ed RatleffLong Beach State
Nate StephensLong Beach State
Oscar EvansButler
George AdamsGardner-Webb
Rich GarnerManhattan
Cavin AndersonValley City
Wardell Dyson Shaw
Jolly Spight Santa Clara
Bill Burton Eastern Kentucky
Wally Rice Penn Military
Lee Sims Morehead State
Nate WilliamsUtah State

Regular season

Schedule

Season standings

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MIN= Minutes; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average
PlayerGPMINREBASTSTLBLKPTSAVG
George McGinnis8233471022205160N/A2261
Mel Daniels8131031247177N/A1571497
Bill Keller832251204361N/AN/A1147
Donnie Freeman772170219195N/AN/A1103
Freddie Lewis722217228288N/AN/A1075
Roger Brown722177348204N/AN/A909
Darnell Hillman842541735128N/AN/A804

Roster

Playoffs

Western Division Semifinals
GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1March 31Indiana114–911–07,051
2April 1Denver106–932–07,235
3April 3Denver94–1052–15,335
4April 5Denver97–953–16,904
5April 7Indiana121–1074–19,816

Western Division Finals
GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1April 12Utah107–1240–17,712
2April 14Utah116–1101–112,233
3April 16Indiana118–1082–19,353
4April 18Indiana103–1042–210,079
5April 19Utah104–1023–212,453
6April 21Indiana107–984–29,529

ABA Finals
GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1April 28Kentucky111–107 1–012,119
2April 30Kentucky102–1141–113,408
3May 3Indiana88–921–210,079
4May 5Indiana90–862–29,498
5May 8Kentucky89–863–216,779
6May 10Indiana93–1093–310,079
7May 12Kentucky88–814–316,597

Awards, records, and honors