The 1974–75 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's eighth season both as a team and in the American Basketball Association.1974-75 Indiana Pacers This would also become their last season with a majority of their championship core group of players remaining on their team, as the Pacers would trade Mel Daniels and Roger Brown to the Memphis Sounds before the start of the season, though they would be able to get Brown back onto the team before the end of the season through a trade with the Utah Stars. Due to their earlier trade with the Sounds, the Pacers would record a worse record this season than the previous season, though would still make it to the 1975 ABA Playoffs as a third place team in the Western Division in what turned out to be the final season to have divisions in the ABA. Despite the worst regular season finish, the Pacers would not only beat the San Antonio Spurs, but also the Denver Nuggets to reach the ABA Finals for the fifth time in seven years, though they would ultimately lose the championship round to the nearby-rivaling Kentucky Colonels 4–1.
This marked the last ABA Finals appearance for Indiana in this league. The next Finals appearance for the Pacers would be in the 2000 NBA Finals, 24 years after their establishment in that league. They would later reach the NBA Finals once again a quarter-century after that in 2025, though ultimately lose that series in a heartbreaking manner to the Oklahoma City Thunder 4–3 following a serious injury involving point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
ABA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 6 Billy Knight SG/SF United States Pittsburgh 2 16 Bruce King G United States Pan American College 3 26 Roland Grant C United States New Mexico State 5 46 Eddie Woods C United States Oral Roberts 6 56 Ron deVries C United States Illinois State 7 66 Alex English SF United States South Carolina 8 76 Bob Florence G United States UNLV 9 86 Kevin Fitzgerald G United States Oklahoma State 10 96 Mark Brown F United States Missouri Western State This draft table does not include the "ABA Draft of NBA Players" that was done immediately afterward.
ABA Draft of NBA Players Round Pick Player Position Nationality College NBA Team 1 6 Clifford Ray PF/C United States Oklahoma Chicago Bulls 2 16 Bill Bradley SF United States Princeton New York Knicks 3 26 Mel Counts PF/C United States Oregon State Los Angeles Lakers 4 36 Pat Riley SG United States Kentucky Los Angeles Lakers 5 46 Jim Davis PF/C United States Colorado Detroit Pistons The "ABA Draft of NBA Players" that was done on April 17, 1974, happened immediately after the actual ABA Draft done for this season was concluded on that day. None of the five players drafted by the Pacers would report to the team this season. Following this draft's conclusion, both Bill Bradley and Pat Riley would eventually end up becoming members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, though Riley would make it more for his head coaching prowess (with a potential second induction for his work as a general manager and later executive for teams) over anything else.
Roster
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Player notes Roger Brown retired after this season.
After leading the Pacers to the finals, George McGinnis decided to jump to the NBA to the Philadelphia 76ers, who held his original NBA draft rights.
Regular season standings Western Division Team W L Pct.Denver Nuggets6519.774San Antonio Spurs5133.607Indiana Pacers4539.536Utah Stars3846.452San Diego Conquistadors3153.369
ABA Playoffs ABA Western Division Semifinals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 5 San Antonio 122–119 (OT) 1–0 8,529 2 April 7 San Antonio 98–93 2–0 7,643 3 April 10 Indiana 103–113 3–0 12,217 4 April 12 Indiana 109–110 3–1 17,389 5 April 14 San Antonio 117–123 3–2 10,986 6 April 16 Indiana 115–100 4–2 15,675 Pacers win series, 4–2
ABA Western Division Finals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 20 Denver 128–131 0–1 7,444 2 April 22 Denver 131–124 1–1 7,491 3 April 24 Indiana 118–112 2–1 15,496 4 April 25 Indiana 109–126 2–2 17,389 5 April 27 Denver 109–90 3–2 7,483 6 April 30 Indiana 99–104 3–3 17,421 7 May 3 Denver 104–96 4–3 7,401 Pacers win series, 4–3
ABA Finals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 May 13 Kentucky 94–120 0–1 14,368 2 May 15 Kentucky 93–95 0–2 13,212 3 May 17 Indiana 101–109 0–3 17,388 4 May 19 Indiana 94–86 1–3 14,589 5 May 22 Kentucky 95–110 1–4 16,622 Pacers lose championship series, 4–1
References