1971–72 Boston Celtics season

The 1971–72 NBA season was the Celtics' 26th season in the NBA.[1] The Celtics qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 3 seasons, and won the Atlantic Division for the 1st time in franchise history. The Celtics had the fifth best team defensive rating and the fifth best team offensive rating in the NBA.

1971–72 Boston Celtics season
Division champions
Head coachTom Heinsohn
General managerRed Auerbach
ArenaBoston Garden
Results
Record56–26 (.683)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishConference finals
(lost to Knicks 1–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWSMW-TV
RadioWBZ

Draft picks
Main article: 1971 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 10 Clarence Glover SF  United States Western Kentucky
2 28 Jim Rose PG/SG  United States Western Kentucky
3 44 Dave Robisch C/PF  United States Kansas
4 61 Randy Denton C  United States Duke
6 95 Thorpe Weber F  United States Vanderbilt
7 112 Skip Young G  United States Florida State
8 129 John Ribock F  United States South Carolina
9 145 Ray Greene G  United States California (Pennsylvania)
10 161 Dale Dover G  United States Harvard
11 161 Reggie Brooks F  United States Southern New Hampshire
12 189 John Dalton G  United States Suffolk
13 201 Leroy Chalk F  United States Nebraska

Roster
Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
SG 12 United States Chaney, Don 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Houston
F/C 18 United States Cowens, Dave 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Florida State
C 29 United States Finkel, Henry 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Dayton
G/F 17 United States Havlicek, John 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Ohio State
F/C 11 United States Kuberski, Steve 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Bradley
G 20 United States Morgan, Rex 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jacksonville
F 19 United States Nelson, Don 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Iowa
C 33 United States Smith, Garfield 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Eastern Kentucky
G 10 United States White, Jo Jo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Kansas
SF 16 United States Sanders, Satch 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) NYU
G 7 United States Williams, Art 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Cal Poly Pomona
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season
Atlantic Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 5626.683–32–921–163–115–3
x-New York Knicks 4834.585827–1420–191–111–7
Philadelphia 76ers 3052.3662614–2314–262–36–12
Buffalo Braves 2260.2683413–278–311–24–14
#
Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics5626.683
2 y-Baltimore Bullets3844.463
3 x-New York Knicks4834.585
4 x-Atlanta Hawks3646.439
5 Philadelphia 76ers3052.366
5 Cincinnati Royals3052.366
7 Cleveland Cavaliers2359.280
8 Buffalo Braves2260.268
z = clinched division title
y = clinched division title
x = clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1971–72 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CIN CLE DET GSW HOU LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SEA
Atlanta —2–40–44–20–53–34–23–23–21–40–52–33–13–33–24–01–4
Baltimore 4–2—2–23–31–44–21–53–21–43–21–40–52–44–04–13–12–3
Boston 4–02–2—6–03–24–25–15–02–35–01–42–33–36–02–34–02–3
Buffalo 2–43–30–6—1–33–34–22–41–30–40–40–41–53–30–42–40–4
Chicago 5–04–12–33–1—3–14–05–13–35–11–32–43–24–15–16–02–3
Cincinnati 3–32–42–43–31–3—6–22–32–30–41–40–52–22–22–32–20–5
Cleveland 2–45–11–52–40–42–6—1–30–42–21–30–41–52–40–44–20–4
Detroit 2–32–30–54–21–53–23–1—0–53–31–41–51–41–42–42–20–4
Golden State 2–34–13–23–13–33–24–05–0—5–11–52–22–34–12–34–24–2
Houston 4–12–30–54–01–54–02–23–31–5—1–50–50–54–11–34–23–3
Los Angeles 5–04–14–14–03–14–13–14–15–15–1—4–14–15–04–26–05–1
Milwaukee 3–25–03–24–04–25–04–05–12–25–01–4—2–34–14–26–06–0
New York 1–34–23–35–12–32–25–14–13–25–01–43–2—3–31–43–13–2
Philadelphia 3–30–40–63–31–42–24–24–11–41–40–51–43–3—1–42–24–1
Phoenix 2–31–43–24–01–53–24–04–23–23–12–42–44–14–1—6–03–2
Portland 0–41–30–44–20–62–22–42–22–42–40–60–61–32–20–6—0–6
Seattle 4–13–23–24–03–25–04–04–02–43–31–50–62–31–42–36–0—

Game log
1971–72 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 15Golden State97–75Jo Jo White (22)0–1
2October 19Baltimore114–134Jo Jo White (26)1–1
3October 22@ Atlanta115–108Jo Jo White (34)2–1
4October 23@ Buffalo103–98John Havlicek (34)3–1
5October 25Atlanta116–136Dave Cowens (27)4–1
6October 26@ New York101–106Jo Jo White (29)4–2
7October 27Houston97–108Jo Jo White (31)5–2
8October 29Milwaukee114–125Dave Cowens (37)6–2
9November 5Detroit102–103Jo Jo White (29)7–2
10November 6Portland109–124John Havlicek (32)8–2
11November 8N Cincinnati109–120Dave Cowens (30)9–2
12November 10@ Houston142–103Dave Cowens (29)10–2
13November 12@ Phoenix119–128John Havlicek (26)10–3
14November 13@ Seattle112–116John Havlicek (30)10–4
15November 14@ Los Angeles115–128Jo Jo White (36)10–5
16November 17Phoenix121–140John Havlicek (32)11–5
17November 19Cincinnati110–106John Havlicek (29)11–6
18November 20@ Chicago106–123John Havlicek (30)11–7
19November 21@ Cleveland128–105John Havlicek (36)12–7
20November 24Buffalo100–108John Havlicek (33)13–7
21November 26New York104–89John Havlicek (28)13–8
22November 27N Baltimore120–125John Havlicek (29)13–9
23November 28Atlanta108–130Jo Jo White (25)14–9
24December 1Los Angeles124–111John Havlicek (36)14–10
25December 4Houston107–117John Havlicek (38)15–10
26December 7@ New York105–97Jo Jo White (26)16–10
27December 8Cleveland107–126John Havlicek (28)17–10
28December 10@ Milwaukee104–120John Havlicek (32)17–11
29December 11Chicago115–99John Havlicek (24)17–12
30December 12@ Cincinnati96–83John Havlicek (28)18–12
31December 14@ Chicago116–108John Havlicek (35)19–12
32December 15Seattle100–112Chaney, White (22)20–12
33December 17@ Cleveland115–109John Havlicek (25)21–12
34December 18Buffalo91–124John Havlicek (30)22–12
35December 22N Milwaukee98–104John Havlicek (26)23–12
36December 25@ Cincinnati99–94Jo Jo White (30)24–12
37December 27Golden State97–99John Havlicek (28)25–12
38December 28@ Philadelphia120–116John Havlicek (36)26–12
39December 31Philadelphia119–131John Havlicek (30)27–12
40January 1@ Phoenix104–114John Havlicek (24)27–13
41January 2@ Los Angeles113–122Cowens, Havlicek (29)27–14
42January 5@ Houston113–105Jo Jo White (30)28–14
43January 7@ Portland120–114John Havlicek (37)29–14
44January 8@ Golden State106–128John Havlicek (28)29–15
45January 9@ Seattle119–125Jo Jo White (32)29–16
46January 12Chicago112–113Jo Jo White (31)30–16
47January 14Detroit94–108Dave Cowens (26)31–16
48January 15@ Atlanta122–106John Havlicek (40)32–16
49January 21Houston105–110Havlicek, White (28)33–16
50January 23Portland105–115Dave Cowens (26)34–16
51January 25@ New York106–109Jo Jo White (33)34–17
52January 26Cleveland112–108John Havlicek (27)34–18
53January 28New York116–122 (OT)John Havlicek (33)35–18
54January 29@ Detroit124–112Don Chaney (29)36–18
55January 30Philadelphia114–130John Havlicek (33)37–18
56February 1@ Baltimore115–108Dave Cowens (32)38–18
57February 2Chicago100–124John Havlicek (32)39–18
58February 4Cincinnati109–122Cowens, Nelson, White (21)40–18
59February 6Seattle123–128John Havlicek (42)41–18
60February 9Buffalo112–139Jo Jo White (24)42–18
61February 11Los Angeles108–121Don Nelson (24)43–18
62February 13Milwaukee117–109Jo Jo White (31)43–19
63February 15@ Portland111–104John Havlicek (31)44–19
64February 16@ Seattle112–113Dave Cowens (29)44–20
65February 18@ Phoenix115–126John Havlicek (27)44–21
66February 19@ Golden State111–115Havlicek, White (26)44–22
67February 20@ Los Angeles113–132John Havlicek (27)44–23
68February 22Phoenix103–114John Havlicek (27)45–23
69February 23@ Cleveland113–111John Havlicek (33)46–23
70February 25@ Buffalo117–115John Havlicek (33)47–23
71March 1Cleveland105–115John Havlicek (31)48–23
72March 3@ Detroit125–96Dave Cowens (22)49–23
73March 5Cincinnati125–114John Havlicek (29)49–24
74March 6@ Milwaukee127–132 (OT)John Havlicek (34)49–25
75March 12New York109–112John Havlicek (41)50–25
76March 14Golden State110–124John Havlicek (38)51–25
77March 15@ Philadelphia120–115John Havlicek (36)52–25
78March 17N Philadelphia111–127John Havlicek (35)53–25
79March 19Baltimore125–112John Havlicek (26)53–26
80March 22Philadelphia106–113John Havlicek (21)54–26
81March 25@ Buffalo121–116John Havlicek (31)55–26
82March 26Detroit120–133John Havlicek (27)56–26

Playoffs
1972 playoff game log
Conference semifinals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 29 Atlanta W 126–108 John Havlicek (32) Dave Cowens (16) John Havlicek (10) Boston Garden
12,815		 1–0
2 March 31 @ Atlanta L 104–113 John Havlicek (43) Dave Cowens (12) John Havlicek (4) Alexander Memorial Coliseum
6,955		 1–1
3 April 2 Atlanta W 136–113 John Havlicek (31) Cowens, Finkel (11) Jo Jo White (11) Boston Garden
12,094		 2–1
4 April 4 @ Atlanta L 110–112 Jo Jo White (32) Steve Kuberski (13) John Havlicek (5) Alexander Memorial Coliseum
7,192		 2–2
5 April 7 Atlanta W 124–114 John Havlicek (27) Dave Cowens (12) John Havlicek (9) Boston Garden
15,315		 3–2
6 April 9 @ Atlanta W 127–118 Havlicek, Cowens (26) Dave Cowens (20) Jo Jo White (9) Alexander Memorial Coliseum
7,192		 4–2
Conference finals: 1–4 (home: 1–2; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 13 New York L 94–116 Jo Jo White (19) Dave Cowens (15) Jo Jo White (5) Boston Garden
14,292		 0–1
2 April 16 @ New York L 105–106 John Havlicek (29) Dave Cowens (18) John Havlicek (6) Madison Square Garden
19,588		 0–2
3 April 19 New York W 115–109 Jo Jo White (29) Dave Cowens (16) John Havlicek (11) Boston Garden
15,315		 1–2
4 April 21 @ New York L 98–116 John Havlicek (27) Havlicek, Nelson (9) John Havlicek (6) Madison Square Garden
19,588		 1–3
5 April 23 New York L 103–111 John Havlicek (32) Dave Cowens (15) Jo Jo White (9) Boston Garden
15,315		 1–4
1972 schedule

Awards and records

References
  1. 1971–72 Boston Celtics
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