1973-74 NBA Finals

Result

Games

Finals MVP

John Havlicek. Havlicek was named Finals MVP for the champion Celtics.

Series context

The 1973-74 NBA Finals pitted the Boston Celtics, rebuilding under coach Tommy Heinsohn in the years right after Bill Russell's retirement, against a Milwaukee Bucks team anchored by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a 35-year-old Oscar Robertson in his final season. Boston, led by John Havlicek and a young Dave Cowens at center, finished the regular season 56-26, while Milwaukee, built around Abdul-Jabbar's dominant post play, actually posted the league's best regular-season record at 59-23 — the Bucks entered the Finals as the higher seed despite ultimately losing the series. The series swung back and forth with the road team frequently prevailing. Boston took Game 1 in Milwaukee, 98-83, pressuring Robertson into turnovers. The Bucks answered in Game 2, winning 105-96 in overtime as Abdul-Jabbar scored 36 and blocked Cowens repeatedly. Boston reclaimed home advantage with a 95-83 win in Game 3, with Cowens shooting from the perimeter to avoid Abdul-Jabbar's shadow, but Milwaukee stole Game 4 in Boston, 97-89, using an unconventional lineup to create matchup problems. The Celtics won Game 5 in Milwaukee, 96-87, behind 28 points apiece from Havlicek and Cowens. Game 6, in Boston, produced one of the most dramatic finishes of the decade: Havlicek hit a baseline jumper to put Boston ahead 101-100 with seconds left, only for Abdul-Jabbar to answer with a game-winning sky-hook from the corner with two seconds remaining, sending Milwaukee to a 102-101 double-overtime win and forcing a decisive Game 7. Back in Milwaukee, Boston changed its defensive approach, doubling and tripling Abdul-Jabbar to hold him down while Cowens exploded for 28 points and 14 rebounds, and the Celtics closed out the title with a 102-87 win. This championship marked Boston's first title of the post-Russell era, proving the franchise could reload around Havlicek, Cowens, and Jo Jo White rather than simply coasting on its 1960s dynasty. For Milwaukee, it was a heartbreaking near-miss in what would prove to be the twilight of the Robertson-Abdul-Jabbar partnership; the Bucks would trade Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers within two years. The series is remembered as a showcase for Abdul-Jabbar's individual brilliance against a Celtics team whose depth and adaptability ultimately prevailed, foreshadowing Boston's continued success later in the decade. Boston reached the Finals by beating Buffalo in six games and then eliminating the defending-champion New York Knicks in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals, while Milwaukee, which had gone 59-23 in the regular season, ousted the Los Angeles Lakers in five games before sweeping the Chicago Bulls 4-0 to reach the championship round. The Bucks were without guard Lucius Allen, who had averaged 17.6 points and 5.2 assists that season but was sidelined by injury for the entire Finals, a loss that thinned Milwaukee's backcourt depth alongside the aging Robertson. The Celtics' Game 7 road win has held up as a rare feat: it stood as the last time Boston won a Game 7 on the road until 2022. Game attendance underscored the differing markets involved, with crowds of roughly 15,300 at Boston Garden compared with about 10,900 at the Bucks' arena in Milwaukee. The 1974 Finals also marked the first of what would become sixteen consecutive NBA Finals broadcast by CBS, a run that helped establish the championship series as an annual national television fixture through the rest of the decade.

Sources

• Wikipedia - 1974 NBA Finals
• Basketball-Reference - 1974 NBA Finals