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.

1972–73 Indiana Pacers season
Head coach	Bobby Leonard
Arena	Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum
Results
Record	51–33 (.607)
Place	Division: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	ABA Champions (Defeated Colonels 4–3)
Stats at Basketball Reference
< 1971–72 1973–74 >

Offseason

ABA Draft

Main article: 1972 ABA Draft

Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
Ed Ratleff			Long Beach State
Nate Stephens			Long Beach State
Oscar Evans			Butler
George Adams			Gardner-Webb
Rich Garner			Manhattan
Cavin Anderson			Valley City
Wardell Dyson			Shaw
Jolly Spight			Santa Clara
Bill Burton			Eastern Kentucky
Wally Rice			Penn Military
Lee Sims			Morehead State
Nate Williams			Utah State

^[1]

Roster

1972–73 Indiana Pacers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From SF 22 Arnzen, Bob 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) November 3, 1947 Notre Dame SF 35 Brown, Roger 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) May 22, 1942 Dayton PG 10 Buse, Don 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) August 10, 1950 Evansville C 34 Daniels, Mel 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) July 20, 1944 New Mexico SG 13 Freeman, Donnie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) July 18, 1944 Illinois PF 20 Hillman, Darnell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) August 29, 1949 San José State SF 25 Johnson, Gus 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) December 13, 1938 Idaho SG 11 Keller, Billy 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 177 lb (80 kg) August 30, 1947 Purdue PG 14 Lewis, Freddie 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) July 1, 1943 Arizona State PF 30 McGinnis, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) August 12, 1950 Indiana PF 24 Newton, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) December 22, 1950 LSU C 15 Peeples, George 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) October 30, 1943 Iowa C 12 Raymond, Craig 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) April 5, 1945 BYU

Head coach Bobby Leonard Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Pacers points	Opponents	Record
1
2

^[2]

Season standings

1972–73 ABA Western Standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT.	GB
Utah Stars	55	29	.655	–
Indiana Pacers	51	33	.607	4
Denver Rockets	47	37	.560	8
San Diego Conquistadors	30	54	.357	25
Dallas Chaparrals	28	56	.333	27

^[3]

Player stats

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

Regular season

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
George McGinnis	82	40.8	.495	.250	.665	12.5	2.5	27.6
Mel Daniels	81	38.3	.482	.250	.722	15.4	2.2	18.5
Freddie Lewis	72	30.8	.436	.345	.822	3.2	4.0	14.9
Darnell Hillman	84	30.3	.446	.000	.587	8.8	1.5	9.6
Roger Brown	72	30.2	.474	.356	.822	4.8	2.8	12.6
Donnie Freeman	77	28.2	.442	.333	.808	2.8	2.5	14.3
Billy Keller	83	27.1	.433	.320	.870	2.5	4.3	13.8
Don Buse	77	19.3	.453	.208	.752	2.7	2.9	5.4
Gus Johnson	50	15.1	.441	.190	.738	4.9	1.2	6.0
George Peeples	9	6.2	.286	.000	.545	1.7	0.4	1.6
Craig Raymond	6	5.5	.250	0.0	.500	1.7	0.2	0.8
Bill Newton	24	4.9	.429	.500	.500	2.0	0.4	2.4
Bob Arnzen	23	4.8	.526	.000	.750	1.0	0.1	2.0

^[4]

Playoffs

Western Division Semifinals^[5]

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record	Attendance
1	March 31	Indiana	114–91	1–0	7,051
2	April 1	Denver	106–93	2–0	7,235
3	April 3	Denver	94–105	2–1	5,335
4	April 5	Denver	97–95	3–1	6,904
5	April 7	Indiana	121–107	4–1	9,816

Western Division Finals

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record	Attendance
1	April 12	Utah	107–124	0–1	7,712
2	April 14	Utah	116–110	1–1	12,233
3	April 16	Indiana	118–108	2–1	9,353
4	April 18	Indiana	103–104	2–2	10,079
5	April 19	Utah	104–102	3–2	12,453
6	April 21	Indiana	107–98	4–2	9,529

ABA Finals

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record	Attendance
1	April 28	Kentucky	111–107 (OT)	1–0	12,119
2	April 30	Kentucky	102–114	1–1	13,408
3	May 3	Indiana	88–92	1–2	10,079
4	May 5	Indiana	90–86	2–2	9,498
5	May 8	Kentucky	89–86	3–2	16,779
6	May 10	Indiana	93–109	3–3	10,079
7	May 12	Kentucky	88–81	4–3	16,597

Awards, records, and honors

• George McGinnis, appeared in the 1973 ABA All-Star Game
• Mel Daniels, appeared in the 1973 ABA All-Star Game

Transactions