1973–74 Detroit Pistons season

The 1973-74 NBA season was the Detroit Pistons' 26th season in the NBA and 17th season in the city of Detroit. The team played at Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit.

1973–74 Detroit Pistons season
Head coachRay Scott
General managerEdwin Coil
Owner(s)Fred Zollner
ArenaCobo Arena
Results
Record52–30 (.634)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Midwest)
Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finishConference Semifinals
(Lost to Bulls 3–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWKBD-TV
RadioWJR

The Pistons finished with a 52-30 (.634) record, 3rd place in the Midwest Division, only their second winning season since moving to Detroit in 1957. The team was led by guard Dave Bing (18.8 ppg, 6.9 apg, NBA All-Star) and center Bob Lanier (22.5 ppg, 13.3 rpg, NBA All-Star and NBA All-Star Game MVP).[1][2] Pistons coach Ray Scott was recognized as the NBA Coach of the Year, the first black coach in the league to win the award.[3][4] It wouldn't be until 1991 when Don Chaney won the award that another black coach was so honored.[5]

Detroit advanced to the 1974 NBA Playoffs, the team's first playoff appearance since the 1967-68 Detroit Pistons season, losing the Western Conference semi-finals 4-3 to the Chicago Bulls, dropping the deciding 7th game 96-94 in Chicago, with each team winning at home in the tight series.[1] In the 7th game at Chicago Stadium, after a furious Detroit rally, Dennis Awtrey of the Bulls tipped an inbounds pass by Bing with 3 seconds remaining and Norm Van Lier dribbled out the clock to preserve the Chicago victory.[6]

Draft picks
Main article: 1973 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College / Team
8 129 Ben Kelso Guard United States Central Michigan

Roster
Detroit Pistons roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
SF 10 Adams, Don 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1947-11-27 Northwestern
PG 21 Bing, Dave (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1943-11-24 Syracuse
C 20 Davis, Jim 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1941-12-18 Colorado
SG 42 Ford, Chris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1949-01-11 Villanova
SG 30 Kelso, Ben 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1949-04-11 Central Michigan
C 16 Lanier, Bob (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1948-09-10 St. Bonaventure
SG 22 Lantz, Stu 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1946-07-13 Nebraska
SG 15 Mengelt, John 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1949-10-16 Auburn
SF 33 Nash, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1950-08-24 Hawaiʻi
SF 8 Norwood, Willie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1947-08-08 Alcorn State
PF 18 Rowe, Curtis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1949-07-02 UCLA
PF 31 Trapp, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1948-07-11 Long Beach State
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster
Last transaction: October 8, 1973

Regular season

Season standings
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 5923.720–31–724–164–014–6
x-Chicago Bulls 5428.659532–921–191–013–7
x-Detroit Pistons 5230.634729–1223–170–19–11
Kansas City–Omaha Kings 3349.4022620–2113–28–4–16
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Milwaukee Bucks5923.720–
2 x-Chicago Bulls5428.6595
3 x-Detroit Pistons5230.6347
4 y-Los Angeles Lakers4735.57312
5 Golden State Warriors4438.53715
6 Seattle SuperSonics3646.43923
7 Kansas City–Omaha Kings3349.40226
8 Phoenix Suns3052.36629
9 Portland Trail Blazers2755.32932

Record vs. opponents
1973–74 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS BUF CAP CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCO LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO POR SEA
Atlanta —1–52–44–41–34–30–41–35–21–34–01–31–53–31–32–24–0
Boston 5–1—5–22–42–24–23–13–14–23–12–22–25–27–13–14–02–2
Buffalo 4–22–5—3–31–35–11–31–34–22–20–41–34–46–13–13–12–2
Capital 4–44–23–3—1–36–12–23–14–33–12–21–33–34–22–23–12–2
Chicago 3–12–23–13–1—4–05–24–24–05–21–53–32–23–14–24–24–2
Cleveland 3–42–41–51–60–4—2–20–44–40–43–10–41–55–11–34–02–2
Detroit 4–01–33–12–22–52–2—5–13–14–24–23–41–32–26–05–15–1
Golden State 3–11–33–11–32–44–01–5—4–03–34–23–31–33–15–23–43–3
Houston 2–52–42–43–40–44–41–30–4—2–22–20–44–24–22–23–11–3
Kansas City-Omaha 3–11–32–21–32–54–02–43–32–2—1–50–71–31–34–24–22–4
Los Angeles 0–42–24–02–25–11–32–42–42–25–1—4–22–24–04–24–34–3
Milwaukee 3–12–23–13–13–34–04–33–34–07–02–4—2–24–05–16–04–2
New York 5–12–54–43–32–25–13–13–12–43–12–22–2—4–33–12–24–0
Philadelphia 3–31–71–62–41–31–52–21–32–43–10–40–43–4—3–12–20–4
Phoenix 3–11–31–32–22–43–10–62–52–22–42–41–51–31–3—3–34–3
Portland 2–20–41–31–32–40–41–54–31–32–43–40–62–22–23–3—3–3
Seattle 0–42–22–22–22–42–21–53–33–14–23–42–40–44–03–43–3—

Playoffs
1974 playoff game log
Conference Semifinals: 3–4 (Home: 2–1; Road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 30 @ Chicago W 97–88 Bob Lanier (27) Lanier, Rowe (13) Don Adams (6) Chicago Stadium
10,711		 1–0
2 April 1 Chicago L 103–108 Bob Lanier (38) Bob Lanier (19) Dave Bing (7) Cobo Arena
11,499		 1–1
3 April 5 @ Chicago L 83–84 Dave Bing (23) Bob Lanier (16) Lanier, Rowe (2) Chicago Stadium
17,634		 1–2
4 April 7 Chicago W 102–87 Bob Lanier (26) Bob Lanier (18) Dave Bing (8) Cobo Arena
11,287		 2–2
5 April 9 @ Chicago L 94–98 Bob Lanier (23) Bob Lanier (17) Dave Bing (6) Chicago Stadium
14,236		 2–3
6 April 11 Chicago W 92–88 Bob Lanier (28) Bob Lanier (14) Dave Bing (10) Cobo Arena
11,134		 3–3
7 April 13 @ Chicago L 94–96 Stu Lantz (25) Lanier, Rowe (10) Stu Lantz (5) Chicago Stadium
13,133		 3–4
1974 schedule

Player stats

Season
Player Games Played Minutes Points Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks
Bob Lanier81304718221074343110247
Dave Bing813124152028155510917
Curtis Rowe8224998785151364936
George Trapp821489765313814733
Don Adams74229875944814111012
John Mengelt771555680206148687
Willie Norwood74117858922958609
Chris Ford82205958530427914814

[7]

Awards and records

See also

References
  1. "1973-74 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats".
  2. "Chevette to Corvette No. 12: The 1973-74 Detroit Pistons". 6 December 2011.
  3. "Ray Scott, the NBA's first Black Coach of the Year | the Official Website of the NBA Coaches Association". 23 February 2021.
  4. "Ray Scott".
  5. "Ray Scott, NBA's first Black Coach of the Year, followed another trailblazer into history". USA Today.
  6. "Bulls Top Pistons, 96‐94, For 4‐3 Victory in Series". The New York Times. 1974-04-14. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  7. "1973–74 Detroit Pistons". basketball-reference.com.
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