1971–72 Milwaukee Bucks season

The 1971–72 Milwaukee Bucks season was the fourth season in franchise history.^[1] Led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Bucks finished in first place in the Midwest Division. Abdul-Jabbar won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award ahead of Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain of the Los Angeles Lakers. On January 9, 1972, the Bucks snapped the Los Angeles Lakers' 33-game winning streak.

1971–72 Milwaukee Bucks season
Division champions
Head coach	Larry Costello
Arena	Milwaukee Arena
Results
Record	63–19 (.768)
Place	Division: 1st (Midwest) Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	Conference finals (lost to Lakers 2–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	WISN-TV
Radio	WTMJ
< 1970–71 1972–73 >

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	17	Collis Jones		United States	University of Notre Dame
3	51	Gary Brell		United States	Marquette University

^[2]

Roster

1971–72 Milwaukee Bucks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From C 33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1947–04–16 UCLA PG 42 Lucius Allen 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1947–09–26 UCLA F 34 John Block 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1944–04–16 USC SF 10 Bob Dandridge 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1947–11–15 Norfolk State G 24 Wali Jones 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1942–02–14 Villanova F 7 Toby Kimball 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1942–09–07 Connecticut SG 14 Jon McGlocklin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1943–06–10 Indiana C 50 Barry Nelson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1949–09–19 Duquesne F 18 Curtis Perry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1948–09–13 Missouri State PG 1 Oscar Robertson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1938–11–24 Cincinnati

Head coach Larry Costello Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

• January 9: The Bucks ended the Los Angeles Lakers' 33-game winning streak.^[3]

Season standings

Midwest Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	63	19	.768	–	31–5	27–12	5–2	13–5
x-Chicago Bulls	57	25	.695	6	29–12	26–12	2–1	12–6
Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598	14	30–11	19–20	0–2	7–11
Detroit Pistons	26	56	.317	37	16–25	9–30	1–1	4–14

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	69	13	.841
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	63	19	.768
3	x-Chicago Bulls	57	25	.695
4	x-Golden State Warriors	51	31	.622
5	Phoenix Suns	49	33	.598
6	Seattle SuperSonics	47	35	.573
7	Houston Rockets	34	48	.415
8	Detroit Pistons	26	56	.317
9	Portland Trail Blazers	18	64	.220

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	–	2–4	0–4	4–2	0–5	3–3	4–2	3–2	3–2	1–4	0–5	2–3	3–1	3–3	3–2	4–0	1–4
Baltimore	4–2	–	2–2	3–3	1–4	4–2	1–5	3–2	1–4	3–2	1–4	0–5	2–4	4–0	4–1	3–1	2–3
Boston	4–0	2–2	–	6–0	3–2	4–2	5–1	5–0	2–3	5–0	1–4	2–3	3–3	6–0	2–3	4–0	2–3
Buffalo	2–4	3–3	0–6	–	1–3	3–3	4–2	2–4	1–3	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–5	3–3	0–4	2–4	0–4
Chicago	5–0	4–1	2–3	3–1	–	3–1	4–0	5–1	3–3	5–1	1–3	2–4	3–2	4–1	5–1	6–0	2–3
Cincinnati	3–3	2–4	2–4	3–3	1–3	–	6–2	2–3	2–3	0–4	1–4	0–5	2–2	2–2	2–3	2–2	0–5
Cleveland	2–4	5–1	1–5	2–4	0–4	2–6	–	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–5	2–4	0–4	4–2	0–4
Detroit	2–3	2–3	0–5	4–2	1–5	3–2	3–1	–	0–5	3–3	1–4	1–5	1–4	1–4	2–4	2–2	0–4
Golden State	2–3	4–1	3–2	3–1	3–3	3–2	4–0	5–0	–	5–1	1–5	2–2	2–3	4–1	2–3	4–2	4–2
Houston	4–1	2–3	0–5	4–0	1–5	4–0	2–2	3–3	1–5	–	1–5	0–5	0–5	4–1	1–3	4–2	3–3
Los Angeles	5–0	4–1	4–1	4–0	3–1	4–1	3–1	4–1	5–1	5–1	–	4–1	4–1	5–0	4–2	6–0	5–1
Milwaukee	3–2	5–0	3–2	4–0	4–2	5–0	4–0	5–1	2–2	5–0	1–4	–	2–3	4–1	4–2	6–0	6–0
New York	1–3	4–2	3–3	5–1	2–3	2–2	5–1	4–1	3–2	5–0	1–4	3–2	–	3–3	1–4	3–1	3–2
Philadelphia	3–3	0–4	0–6	3–3	1–4	2–2	4–2	4–1	1–4	1–4	0–5	1–4	3–3	–	1–4	2–2	4–1
Phoenix	2–3	1–4	3–2	4–0	1–5	3–2	4–0	4–2	3–2	3–1	2–4	2–4	4–1	4–1	–	6–0	3–2
Portland	0–4	1–3	0–4	4–2	0–6	2–2	2–4	2–2	2–4	2–4	0–6	0–6	1–3	2–2	0–6	–	0–6
Seattle	4–1	3–2	3–2	4–0	3–2	5–0	4–0	4–0	2–4	3–3	1–5	0–6	2–3	1–4	2–3	6–0	—

Game log

1971–72 game log Total: 63–19 (home: 31–5; road: 27–12; neutral: 5–2)
October: 7–0 (home: 3–0; road: 4–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 14, 1971 @ Phoenix W 110–97 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 1–0 2 October 16, 1971 @ Seattle W 98–91 Seattle Center Coliseum 2–0 3 October 17, 1971 @ Portland W 127–94 Memorial Coliseum 3–0 4 October 19, 1971 Cleveland W 116–82 Milwaukee Arena 4–0 5 October 22, 1971 Buffalo W 124–105 Milwaukee Arena 5–0 6 October 23, 1971 @ Philadelphia W 110–88 The Spectrum 6–0 7 October 26, 1971 Baltimore W 120–90 Milwaukee Arena 7–0
November: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
December: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
January: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
February: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
March: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
1971–72 schedule

Playoffs

1972 playoff game log
Conference Semi-finals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 March 28 Golden State L 106–117 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15) Lucius Allen (8) Milwaukee Arena 9,877 0–1 2 March 30 Golden State W 118–93 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (25) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (22) Oscar Robertson (9) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 1–1 3 April 1 @ Golden State W 122–94 Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge (23) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (16) Oscar Robertson (14) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 13,502 2–1 4 April 4 @ Golden State W 106–99 Bob Dandridge (31) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (20) Oscar Robertson (11) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 12,986 3–1 5 April 6 Golden State W 108–100 Bob Dandridge (29) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (22) Oscar Robertson (8) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 4–1
Conference finals: 2–4 (home: 1–2; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 9 @ Los Angeles W 93–72 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33) Curtis Perry (23) Oscar Robertson (10) The Forum 17,505 1–0 2 April 12 @ Los Angeles L 134–135 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (40) Curtis Perry (12) Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson (7) The Forum 17,505 1–1 3 April 14 Los Angeles L 105–108 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (21) Abdul-Jabbar, Allen (6) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 1–2 4 April 16 Los Angeles W 114–88 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31) Curtis Perry (19) Oscar Robertson (10) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 2–2 5 April 18 @ Los Angeles L 90–115 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (16) Bob Dandridge (4) The Forum 17,505 2–3 6 April 22 Los Angeles L 100–104 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (37) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (25) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (8) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 2–4
1972 schedule

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	81		44.2	57.4	68.9	16.6	4.6			34.8
Bob Dandridge	80		37.0	49.8	73.9	7.7	3.1			18.4
Oscar Robertson	64		37.3	47.2	83.6	5.0	7.7			17.4
Lucius Allen	80		29.0	50.5	76.4	3.2	4.2			13.5
Jon McGlocklin	80		27.7	51.0	86.5	2.3	2.9			10.7
John Block	79		19.3	44.0	74.9	5.2	1.2			8.5
Greg Smith	28		26.3	49.0	70.7	5.8	2.3			8.4
Wali Jones	48		21.5	40.7	82.2	1.6	2.9			7.5
Curtis Perry	50		29.4	38.5	67.4	9.4	1.6			7.0
Toby Kimball	74		13.1	46.7	54.3	4.2	0.8			3.5
McCoy McLemore	10		9.9	32.1	91.7	3.4	1.2			2.9
Charlie Lowery	20		6.7	44.7	61.1	1.0	0.7			2.3
Bill Dinwiddie	23		6.3	28.1	55.6	1.4	0.4			1.6
Jeff Webb	19		5.7	25.7	84.6	0.9	0.4			1.5
Barry Nelson	28		3.6	41.7	50.0	0.7	0.3			1.3

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	11		46.4	43.7	70.4	18.2	5.1			28.7
Bob Dandridge	11		40.1	49.5	74.0	8.8	1.9			21.5
Lucius Allen	11		35.1	47.0	75.9	3.5	3.8			17.9
Oscar Robertson	11		34.5	40.7	83.3	5.8	7.5			13.1
Wali Jones	9		22.2	43.9	85.7	2.0	2.2			10.0
Curtis Perry	11		36.1	47.3	78.3	12.8	1.3			9.5
Jon McGlocklin	5		20.6	42.9	83.3	0.6	1.2			7.0
John Block	11		14.2	38.5	83.3	5.0	0.5			5.0
Toby Kimball	7		5.1	41.7	100.0	0.9	0.3			1.7
Charlie Lowery	7		3.7	25.0	66.7	0.4	0.1			0.9
Barry Nelson	2		2.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5			0.0

Awards and honors

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Most Valuable Player

Transactions

Trades

September 12, 1971	To Milwaukee Bucks---- John Block	To Houston Rockets---- Dick Cunningham
December 9, 1971	To Milwaukee Bucks---- Curtis Perry	To Houston Rockets---- Greg Smith