The 1973–74 Indiana Pacers season was the franchise's seventh season both as a team and while in the American Basketball Association. Entering this season, the Pacers sought to not just obtain a three-peat of championships while in the ABA, but also win their fourth championship in five seasons after previously winning the ABA Finals in 1970, 1972, and 1973. However, the Pacers would finish the season with a 46–38 record, posting a five win downgrade from the previous season. Despite that notion, the Pacers would still finish in second place for the Western Division for the season, behind only the Utah Stars there. While in the playoffs, the Pacers would go tooth and nail with the San Antonio Spurs, surviving the first round in seven games, before losing the Western Division Finals to the Utah Stars in seven games themselves (with the Stars later losing the 1974 ABA Finals to the New York Nets by five games), thus preventing the Pacers from becoming the sole dynasty of the ABA with four championships in five years.

ABA Draft

Interestingly, this year's ABA draft would involve four different types of drafts throughout the early 1973 year: a "Special Circumstances Draft" on January 15, a "Senior Draft" on April 25, an "Undergraduate Draft" also on April 25, and a "Supplemental Draft" on May 18, though the Pacers joined the New York Nets as one of two teams to avoid using that last draft entirely. Still, the following selections were made in these respective drafts by the Pacers.

ABA Special Circumstances Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 2 Mike Green PF/C United States Louisiana Tech 2 14 Dave Cowens SF United States Houston

ABA Senior Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 7 Steve Downing C United States Indiana 2 17 Jim O'Brien SG/SF United States Maryland 3 27 Jim Resteck F United States Auburn 4 37 John Ritter F United States Indiana 5 47 Allan Hornyak SG United States Ohio State 6 57 Joe Wallace SF United States Denver 7 67 Jim Andrews C United States Kentucky 8 77 Mike Edwards SG United States Tennessee 9 87 Bobby Wilson G United States Wichita State (redshirt) 10 97 Byron Jones F United States San Francisco The "Senior Draft" done in April is often considered the official, main draft period of the 1973 ABA draft by basketball historians.

ABA Special Circumstances Draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 11 (1) 107 (7) Len Elmore PF/C United States Maryland 12 (2) 117 (17) Rudy Jackson C United States Hutchinson Community Junior College The "Undergraduate Draft" is considered a continuation of the "Senior Draft" that was done earlier that same day, hence the numbering of the rounds and draft picks here. Also, the Pacers joined the New York Nets as one of only two teams to decline participation in the "Supplementary Draft" entirely, meaning there will be no section for that draft with the Pacers here.

Roster

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Season standings Western Division Team W L Pct.Utah Stars5133.607Indiana Pacers4638.548San Antonio Spurs4539.536San Diego Conquistadors3747.440Denver Rockets3747.440

Player stats

PlayerGPMPGRPGAPGSPGBPGPPGGeorge McGinnis 80 40.8 15.0 3.3 2.0 0.5 25.9Mel Daniels 78 32.6 11.6 1.6 0.7 1.2 15.4Roger Brown 82 30.8 4.8 2.8 0.7 0.7 11.8Darnell Hillman 83 27.9 8.1 1.2 0.8 2.1 9.1Freddie Lewis 78 27.7 2.6 4.11.3 0.1 9.9Donnie Freeman 66 26.3 2.5 2.5 0.7 0.3 14.3Don Buse 77 24.4 3.3 3.4 1.9 0.3 5.5Bob Netolicky 56 20.7 5.2 0.9 0.4 0.4 9.1Bill Keller 75 19.0 1.7 2.3 0.5 0.0 9.5Kevin Joyce 56 17.6 1.6 2.3 0.6 0.1 7.3Larry Cannon 3 8.7 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 2.3Johnny Baum 13 8.7 1.9 0.2 0.5 0.2 2.8Bob Arnzen 20 7.5 1.0 0.2 0.2 0.1 2.8Bill Newton 11 6.6 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.0 1.41973-74 Indiana Pacers Roster and Stats

ABA Playoffs Western Division Semifinals vs San Antonio Spurs Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 March 30 Indiana 109–113 0–1 7,438 2 April 1 Indiana 128–101 1–1 6,988 3 April 3 San Antonio 96–115 1–2 10,693 4 April 4 San Antonio 91–89 2–2 12,079 5 April 6 Indiana 105–100 3–2 10,079 6 April 10 San Antonio 86–102 3–3 12,304 7 April 12 Indiana 86–79 4–3 10,079 Pacers win series, 4–3

ABA Western Division Finals vs Utah Stars Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 13 Utah 96–105 0–1 7,557 2 April 15 Utah 102–106 0–2 7,143 3 April 17 Indiana 90–99 0–3 6,337 4 April 18 Indiana 118–107 1–3 6,265 5 April 22 Utah 110–101 2–3 10,248 6 April 25 Indiana 91–89 3–3 9,482 7 April 27 Utah 87–109 3–4 12,191 Pacers lose series, 4–3

Awards, records, and honors ABA All-Stars Mel Daniels George McGinnis 1973-74 ABA Season Summary

References

External links RememberTheABA.com 1973-74 regular season and playoff results