1973–74 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1973–74 NBA season was the Lakers' 26th season in the NBA and 14th season in Los Angeles.[1] Having lost to the New York Knicks in the previous season's NBA Finals, the Lakers would make it to the NBA Playoffs, posting a 47-35 record, only to lose to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games.

1973–74 Los Angeles Lakers season
Division champions
Head coachBill Sharman
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record47–35 (.573)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishConference semifinals
(lost to Bucks 1–4)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTLA
RadioKFI
(Chick Hearn, Lynn Shackelford)
< 1972–73 1974–75 >

Following the season, Jerry West retired after 14 seasons with the Lakers. He would later return to the Lakers as the head coach from 1976 to 1979, then served as general manager from 1982 to 2000.

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

1973–74 Los Angeles Lakers roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
F/C32Bridges, Bill6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)228 lb (103 kg)Kansas
C31Counts, Mel7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)230 lb (104 kg)1941-10-16Oregon State
G25Goodrich, Gail6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)170 lb (77 kg)1943-04-23UCLA
F52Hairston, Happy6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)255 lb (116 kg)1942-05-31NYU
F/C42Hawkins, Connie6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)210 lb (95 kg)1942-07-17Iowa
G/F32Hawthorne, Nate6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)190 lb (86 kg)1950-01-15Southern Illinois
F34Love, Stan6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)215 lb (98 kg)Oregon
PG15Price, Jim6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)195 lb (88 kg)Louisville
G12Riley, Pat6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)205 lb (93 kg)1945-03-20Kentucky
C3Smith, Elmore7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)250 lb (113 kg)1949-05-09Kentucky State
F24Washington, Kermit6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)230 lb (104 kg)1951-09-17American
G44West, Jerry6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)175 lb (79 kg)1938-05-28West Virginia
Head coach

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings

W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers4735.57330–1117–2414–12
Golden State Warriors4438.537323–1820–201–015–11
Seattle SuperSonics3646.4391122–1914–2712–14
Phoenix Suns3052.3661724–176–340–111–15
Portland Trail Blazers2755.3292022–195–340–213–13
#
Team W L PCT GB
1z-Milwaukee Bucks5923.720
2x-Chicago Bulls5428.6595
3x-Detroit Pistons5230.6347
4y-Los Angeles Lakers4735.57312
5Golden State Warriors4438.53715
6Seattle SuperSonics3646.43923
7Kansas City–Omaha Kings3349.40226
8Phoenix Suns3052.36629
9Portland Trail Blazers2755.32932
z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1973–74 NBA Records
TeamATLBOSBUFCAPCHICLEDETGSWHOUKCOLALMILNYKPHIPHOPORSEA
Atlanta1–52–44–41–34–30–41–35–21–34–01–31–53–31–32–24–0
Boston5–15–22–42–24–23–13–14–23–12–22–25–27–13–14–02–2
Buffalo4–22–53–31–35–11–31–34–22–20–41–34–46–13–13–12–2
Capital4–44–23–31–36–12–23–14–33–12–21–33–34–22–23–12–2
Chicago3–12–23–13–14–05–24–24–05–21–53–32–23–14–24–24–2
Cleveland3–42–41–51–60–42–20–44–40–43–10–41–55–11–34–02–2
Detroit4–01–33–12–22–52–25–13–14–24–23–41–32–26–05–15–1
Golden State3–11–33–11–32–44–01–54–03–34–23–31–33–15–23–43–3
Houston2–52–42–43–40–44–41–30–42–22–20–44–24–22–23–11–3
Kansas City-Omaha3–11–32–21–32–54–02–43–32–21–50–71–31–34–24–22–4
Los Angeles0–42–24–02–25–11–32–42–42–25–14–22–24–04–24–34–3
Milwaukee3–12–23–13–13–34–04–33–34–07–02–42–24–05–16–04–2
New York5–12–54–43–32–25–13–13–12–43–12–22–24–33–12–24–0
Philadelphia3–31–71–62–41–31–52–21–32–43–10–40–43–43–12–20–4
Phoenix3–11–31–32–22–43–10–62–52–22–42–41–51–31–33–34–3
Portland2–20–41–31–32–40–41–54–31–32–43–40–62–22–23–33–3
Seattle0–42–22–22–22–42–21–53–33–14–23–42–40–44–03–43–3

Game log

1973–74 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 9@ Chicago117–97Jerry West (28)1–0
2October 11@ Atlanta102–129Gail Goodrich (23)1–1
3October 13@ Buffalo125–122Jerry West (35)2–1
4October 19Seattle91–118Gail Goodrich (28)3–1
5October 21Atlanta119–100Jerry West (22)3–2
6October 23@ Houston107–98Gail Goodrich (29)4–2
7October 24@ Kansas City–Omaha92–91Bill Bridges (28)5–2
8October 26Detroit92–94Gail Goodrich (34)6–2
9October 28Portland98–111Gail Goodrich (49)7–2
10October 30@ Portland112–114Gail Goodrich (35)7–3
11November 2New York106–91Gail Goodrich (26)7–4
12November 4Houston93–106Jerry West (30)8–4
13November 6@ Cleveland96–115Jerry West (21)8–5
14November 7@ Milwaukee92–109Happy Hairston (19)8–6
15November 9@ Seattle118–111Gail Goodrich (36)9–6
16November 16Chicago102–118Gail Goodrich (38)10–6
17November 17@ Phoenix130–110Happy Hairston (25)11–6
18November 18Cleveland100–102Gail Goodrich (30)12–6
19November 20@ New York89–105Price, Smith (20)12–7
20November 21@ Capital106–97Gail Goodrich (24)13–7
21November 24@ Portland113–108Gail Goodrich (33)14–7
22November 25Portland109–137Gail Goodrich (40)15–7
23November 30Kansas City–Omaha107–123Gail Goodrich (30)16–7
24December 1@ Portland115–134Jerry West (26)16–8
25December 2Detroit114–108Gail Goodrich (29)16–9
26December 4Phoenix103–120Jerry West (26)17–9
27December 7Seattle115–111Jerry West (27)17–10
28December 8@ Golden State111–135Connie Hawkins (23)17–11
29December 9Capital110–96Jim Price (18)17–12
30December 11@ Cleveland100–101 (OT)Jerry West (32)17–13
31December 12@ Detroit96–114Gail Goodrich (31)17–14
32December 14@ Chicago100–97Gail Goodrich (29)18–14
33December 16Boston115–110Gail Goodrich (24)18–15
34December 18Milwaukee107–109Gail Goodrich (40)19–15
35December 21Philadelphia107–116Gail Goodrich (27)20–15
36December 25@ Phoenix100–135Pat Riley (17)20–16
37December 26@ Seattle105–129Gail Goodrich (26)20–17
38December 28Phoenix107–119Connie Hawkins (26)21–17
39December 29@ Golden State100–102Gail Goodrich (37)21–18
40December 30Buffalo105–108Jim Price (27)22–18
41January 4Golden State111–114Gail Goodrich (29)23–18
42January 6Kansas City–Omaha105–109Gail Goodrich (28)24–18
43January 8@ Capital92–94Gail Goodrich (27)24–19
44January 9@ Detroit94–123Pat Riley (20)24–20
45January 11@ Boston111–103Goodrich, Hawkins (22)25–20
46January 12@ Philadelphia108–101Gail Goodrich (23)26–20
47January 18@ Kansas City–Omaha116–115Gail Goodrich (28)27–20
48January 20@ Milwaukee90–94Gail Goodrich (29)27–21
49January 22Cleveland111–110 (OT)Jim Price (24)27–22
50January 25Capital124–143Gail Goodrich (41)28–22
51January 27Milwaukee92–99Jim Price (20)29–22
52February 1Phoenix110–121Gail Goodrich (29)30–22
53February 2@ Phoenix112–119Jerry West (24)30–23
54February 3Portland91–124Jim Price (24)31–23
55February 5@ Houston112–116 (OT)Gail Goodrich (44)31–24
56February 6@ Atlanta103–107Gail Goodrich (28)31–25
57February 10@ Chicago86–96Gail Goodrich (24)31–26
58February 12Houston129–119Jim Price (28)31–27
59February 15Seattle96–112Gail Goodrich (28)32–27
60February 17Atlanta113–110Gail Goodrich (35)32–28
61February 19@ Kansas City–Omaha86–92Happy Hairston (23)32–29
62February 20@ Detroit110–112Jim Price (31)32–30
63February 22Philadelphia103–104Connie Hawkins (26)33–30
64February 23@ Seattle118–116Gail Goodrich (28)34–30
65February 24Chicago90–100Gail Goodrich (28)35–30
66February 26@ Buffalo119–112Gail Goodrich (25)36–30
67February 27@ Milwaukee110–108Happy Hairston (22)37–30
68March 1Kansas City–Omaha100–107Gail Goodrich (26)38–30
69March 3Golden State104–108Jim Price (26)39–30
70March 5@ Portland102–107Happy Hairston (19)39–31
71March 6Boston111–116Gail Goodrich (39)40–31
72March 8Detroit113–129Goodrich, Price (31)41–31
73March 10@ Boston82–94Gail Goodrich (19)41–32
74March 12@ New York109–102Gail Goodrich (34)42–32
75March 13@ Philadelphia121–100Gail Goodrich (38)43–32
76March 15Golden State112–107Elmore Smith (25)43–33
77March 16@ Golden State105–135Elmore Smith (25)43–34
78March 17New York114–126Jim Price (25)44–34
79March 20Milwaukee114–120Gail Goodrich (27)45–34
80March 22Chicago93–99Elmore Smith (29)46–34
81March 24Buffalo124–150Elmore Smith (37)47–34
82March 26Seattle121–115Gail Goodrich (21)47–35

Playoffs

1974 playoff game log
Conference semifinals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance
Series
1March 29@ MilwaukeeL 95–99Gail Goodrich (31)Connie Hawkins (14)Gail Goodrich (6)Milwaukee Arena
10,938
0–1
2March 31@ MilwaukeeL 90–109Gail Goodrich (21)Happy Hairston (10)Happy Hairston (7)Milwaukee Arena
10,938
0–2
3April 2MilwaukeeW 98–96Elmore Smith (30)Elmore Smith (17)Gail Goodrich (12)The Forum
17,505
1–2
4April 4MilwaukeeL 90–112Elmore Smith (20)Elmore Smith (13)Connie Hawkins (5)The Forum1–3
5April 7@ MilwaukeeL 92–114Gail Goodrich (22)Happy Hairston (11)Gail Goodrich (6)Milwaukee Arena
10,938
1–4
1974 schedule

Awards and records

References