1972–73 Buffalo Braves season
Head coachJack Ramsay
ArenaBuffalo Memorial Auditorium
Maple Leaf Gardens
Results
Record21–61 (.256)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Atlantic)
Conference: 7th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWBEN-TV
RadioWBEN

The 1972–73 Buffalo Braves season was the 3rd season of the Buffalo Braves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Despite finishing with a worse record than their previous 2 seasons, their 21–61 record was good enough for 3rd place. The Braves showed improvement under new Coach Jack Ramsay. Rookie center Bob McAdoo provided the silver lining by winning the Rookie of the Year Award with 18.0 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game.[1]

During the fifth game of the season versus the Boston Celtics on October 20, 1972, the team set an NBA record which still stands for most points in a single quarter with 58, and still managed to lose 126-118.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 2 Bob McAdoo Forward  United States North Carolina
2 15 Harold Fox Guard  United States Jacksonville
3 32 Bob Morse Forward  United States Penn
4 49 George Bryant Guard  United States Eastern Kentucky
5 65 Arnie Berman Forward  United States Brown
6 82 Ed Czernota Center  United States Sacred Heart (Connecticut)
7 99 Greg Kohls Guard  United States Syracuse
8 115 Andy Denny Guard  United States South Alabama
9 131 John Collins Center  United States SUNY Brockport
11 158 Jim Prokell Guard  United States Edinboro (Pennsylvania)
12 167 Frank Dewitt Forward  United States Virginia
13 176 Kim Huband Forward  United States North Carolina
14 182 Greg Corson Center  United States North Carolina
15 189 Paul Hoffman Guard  United States St. Bonaventure
16 194 Norman Bounds Forward  United States SUNY Brockport

Roster

Buffalo Braves 1972-73 roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHt.Wt.From
G 7 United States Fox, Harold 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jacksonville
G 20 United States Garrett, Dick 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Southern Illinois
G 42 United States Hazzard, Walt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) UCLA
F 27 United States Hewitt, Bill 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) USC
G 32 United States Hilton, Fred 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Grambling State
F 45 United States Hummer, John 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Princeton
F 44 United States Kauffman, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Guilford
G 5 United States Komives, Howard 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Bowling Green
F 11 United States McAdoo, Bob 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) North Carolina
C 3 United States Smith, Elmore 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Kentucky State
G 9 United States Smith, Randy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Buffalo State
C 35 United States Warner, Cornell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jackson State
G 13 United States Wohl, Dave 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Penn
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster Notes

  • Center Cornell Warner and guard Walt Hazzard played in only 4 games and 9 games respectively before being waived in November.
  • Guard Harold Fox played in only 10 games before being waived in December.
  • Guard Dave Wohl came back to the franchise, now known as the Los Angeles Clippers, as an assistant coach from 1993–94 and as its general manager from 2014–2017.

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Boston Celtics 6814.829–33–632–83–018–4
x-New York Knicks 5725.6951135–621–181–116–6
Buffalo Braves 2161.2564714–276–311–38–14
Philadelphia 76ers 973.110595–262–362–112–20
#
Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT
1 z-Boston Celtics6814.829
2 x-New York Knicks5725.695
3 y-Baltimore Bullets5230.634
4 x-Atlanta Hawks4636.561
5 Houston Rockets3349.402
6 Cleveland Cavaliers3250.390
7 Buffalo Braves2161.256
8 Philadelphia 76ers973.110

Record vs. opponents

1972-73 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS BUF CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCO LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SEA
Atlanta —3–41–55–12–23–42–21–34–42–23–11–33–36–03–14–03–1
Baltimore 4–3—1–55–10–48–02–23–15–23–11–32–23–35–12–24–04–0
Boston 5–15–1—7–03–15–13–13–15–13–14–02–24–47–04–04–04–0
Buffalo 1–51–50–7—2–21–51–30–41–51–30–40–41–67–11–32–22–2
Chicago 2–24–01–32–2—3–13–43–34–05–21–52–43–14–04–25–15–1
Cleveland 4–30–81–55–11–3—1–31–34–32–21–31–30–66–01–31–33–1
Detroit 2–22–21–33–14–33–1—2–41–33–31–52–51–33–14–26–02–4
Golden State 3–11–31–34–03–33–14–2—3–14–23–41–52–24–02–45–14–3
Houston 4–42–51–55–10–43–43–11–3—0–41–31–31–55–12–22–22–2
Kansas City-Omaha 2–21–31–33–12–52–23–32–44–0—1–51–60–43–13–34–24–2
Los Angeles 1–33–10–44–05–13–15–14–33–15–1—3–32–24–06–16–06–0
Milwaukee 3–12–22–24–04–23–15–25–13–16–13–3—2–23–15–15–15–1
New York 3–33–34–46–11–36–03–12–25–14–02–22–2—6–13–13–14–0
Philadelphia 0–61–50–71–70–40–61–30–41–51–30–41–31–6—0–41–31–3
Phoenix 1–32–20–43–12–43–12–44–22–23–31–61–51–34–0—5–24–2
Portland 0–40–40–42–21–53–10–61–52–22–40–61–51–33–12–5—3–4
Seattle 1–30–40–42–21–51–34–23–42–22–40–61–50–43–12–44–3—

Game log

1972–73 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 10Atlanta120–109Dick Garrett (25)0–1
2October 13@ Philadelphia104–101Fred Hilton (22)1–1
3October 14Houston121–113Fred Hilton (36)1–2
4October 17Philadelphia114–122Bob Kauffman (24)2–2
5October 20@ Boston118–126Randy Smith (29)2–3
6October 21Milwaukee91–63John Hummer (12)2–4
7October 24Boston105–97Bob Kauffman (24)2–5
8October 25@ Milwaukee92–109Elmore Smith (28)2–6
9October 28Kansas City–Omaha113–102Bob Kauffman (17)2–7
10November 3@ Cleveland97–124Bob Kauffman (19)2–8
11November 4Chicago99–101Bob Kauffman (28)3–8
12November 7Golden State105–91Bob McAdoo (21)3–9
13November 8Baltimore94–126Bob McAdoo (18)3–10
14November 10Boston106–104Bob Kauffman (25)3–11
15November 14@ Kansas City–Omaha100–106Bob Kauffman (34)3–12
16November 17@ Los Angeles100–103Bob Kauffman (28)3–13
17November 18@ Golden State92–120Bob Kauffman (26)3–14
18November 19@ Seattle84–107Randy Smith (19)3–15
19November 21Baltimore124–88Dick Garrett (16)3–16
20November 24N Philadelphia96–105Dick Garrett (26)4–16
21November 25Cleveland103–90Dick Garrett (19)4–17
22November 28Philadelphia101–94Elmore Smith (32)4–18
23November 30@ Detroit116–127Elmore Smith (29)4–19
24December 1Seattle90–93Randy Smith (27)5–19
25December 2@ New York94–119Elmore Smith (28)5–20
26December 5Phoenix97–108Bob Kauffman (27)6–20
27December 8New York89–91Dick Garrett (21)7–20
28December 9@ Chicago94–105Elmore Smith (29)7–21
29December 12Houston94–95Elmore Smith (25)8–21
30December 15Golden State129–95Bob Kauffman (20)8–22
31December 16@ Philadelphia126–103Bob Kauffman (32)9–22
32December 19Los Angeles126–100Elmore Smith (35)9–23
33December 22Atlanta110–109Elmore Smith (21)9–24
34December 26Baltimore121–104Elmore Smith (25)9–25
35December 28@ New York86–107Bob McAdoo (23)9–26
36December 29@ Baltimore118–109Randy Smith (33)10–26
37December 30@ Atlanta110–120Elmore Smith (24)10–27
38January 2Philadelphia110–114Bob McAdoo (30)11–27
39January 5New York129–106Bob McAdoo (26)11–28
40January 6@ Milwaukee96–110Randy Smith (21)11–29
41January 7@ Chicago96–119Bob McAdoo (26)11–30
42January 9Cleveland102–106McAdoo, E. Smith (22)12–30
43January 12Portland100–120Bob McAdoo (31)13–30
44January 16Boston106–102Randy Smith (27)13–31
45January 18@ Atlanta127–125Bob McAdoo (32)14–31
46January 19Detroit98–108Elmore Smith (28)15–31
47January 21@ Boston97–104Elmore Smith (32)15–32
48January 25@ New York92–99Elmore Smith (21)15–33
49January 26Atlanta118–82Elmore Smith (22)15–34
50January 27@ Baltimore87–115Bob McAdoo (25)15–35
51January 28@ Philadelphia101–96Elmore Smith (25)16–35
52January 30Philadelphia104–105Elmore Smith (36)17–35
53February 2Milwaukee114–108Randy Smith (27)17–36
54February 3@ Atlanta101–105Dick Garrett (22)17–37
55February 4N Houston130–118Bob McAdoo (31)17–38
56February 6Detroit107–105Bob McAdoo (31)17–39
57February 9Baltimore101–95Bob McAdoo (33)17–40
58February 11@ Seattle128–125Bob McAdoo (39)18–40
59February 13@ Portland100–120Elmore Smith (25)18–41
60February 14@ Phoenix107–124Bob McAdoo (32)18–42
61February 16New York102–98McAdoo, E. Smith (22)18–43
62February 18@ Cleveland98–122Bob Kauffman (20)18–44
63February 20Kansas City–Omaha106–113Elmore Smith (27)19–44
64February 23Phoenix125–106Bob McAdoo (34)19–45
65February 24@ New York97–125Bob Kauffman (20)19–46
66February 27Houston112–105Elmore Smith (22)19–47
67March 2Seattle139–120Bob McAdoo (41)19–48
68March 4@ Boston113–125Randy Smith (32)19–49
69March 6Boston127–112Bob Kauffman (28)19–50
70March 8Chicago102–112Bob McAdoo (28)20–50
71March 10Portland101–106Elmore Smith (29)21–50
72March 13Los Angeles121–112Bob Kauffman (28)21–51
73March 16@ Detroit100–121Bob McAdoo (28)21–52
74March 17Cleveland114–97Elmore Smith (21)21–53
75March 18@ Cleveland101–102Bob Kauffman (21)21–54
76March 20@ Kansas City–Omaha115–119Elmore Smith (33)21–55
77March 21@ Phoenix124–134 (OT)Randy Smith (21)21–56
78March 23@ Los Angeles101–121John Hummer (20)21–57
79March 24@ Golden State101–106Bob McAdoo (29)21–58
80March 25@ Portland107–113 (OT)Bob McAdoo (39)21–59
81March 27N Houston121–111Bob McAdoo (39)21–60
82March 28N Houston138–122Bob McAdoo (45)21–61

Player statistics

Note: GP= Games Played; MPG = Minutes per game; FG% = Field goal percentage; FT% = Free throw percentage; RPG = Rebounds per game; APG = Assists per game; PPG = Points per game

Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
Bob Kauffman7739.6.505.78011.15.117.5
Elmore Smith7637.2.482.55812.43.918.3
Bob McAdoo8032.0.452.7749.13.218.0
Randy Smith8231.7.443.7274.85.114.8
Dave Wohl5627.5.456.7901.64.68.8
John Hummer6623.4.444.5614.92.18.0
Dick Garrett7823.1.419.8732.72.810.0
Howard Komives6721.9.380.8671.83.66.1
Bill Hewitt7318.2.418.5545.01.54.7
Walt Hazzard914.9.417.5001.11.95.9
Fred Hilton5912.4.387.7741.71.37.2
Cornell Warner411.8.471.5003.81.54.3
Harold Fox108.4.375.8750.81.03.1

[2]

Awards and honors

  • Bob Kauffman, NBA All-Star
  • Bob McAdoo, NBA Rookie of the Year

Transactions

The Braves were involved in the following transactions during the 1972–73 season.

Coaching Change

Offseason
Outgoing coach Date Removed 1971–72 Record Incoming coach
Johnny McCarthy Fired, March 27, 1972 22–60 Jack Ramsay

Trades

September 29, 1972 To Buffalo Braves
 To Detroit Pistons
  • 1973 2nd round draft pick

Free agents

References

  1. ↑ Buffalo Braves (1970–1978)
  2. ↑ "1972-73 Buffalo Braves Roster and Stats".
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