Index
ABA Finals
| 1974 |
||
| BOXSCORE | New York Nets | Utah Stars |
| GAME1 | 4 | 1 |
| GAME2 | ||
| GAME3 | ABA FINALS STATS | ABA FINALS STATS |
| GAME4 | ||
| GAME5 | ||
| GAME6 | ||
| GAME7 | ||
Game #1 5/1/74 @New York
Julius Erving kept the Nets in the game in the lead during 1st half as he made 12 of 14 shots as he scored 13 straight points for the Nets at one point. After the game was tied at 8, N.Y. scored 10 straight points to take an 18-8 lead. In the 3rd period, the Stars rallied when coach Joe Mullaney moved Willie Wise to shooting guard & Ron Boone to small forward. Rick Mount provided a spark with 8 points off the bench. A Wise jumper gave Utah a 75-69 lead with 9 minutes left in the game. The Stars still led 78-73 with 6:46 left. Larry Kenon, who sat out during much of Utah’s spurt, returned to spark the Nets at the 8 minute mark. He & Erving would make 28 of 44 shots while the rest of the team made only 11 of 44 tries. Nets coach Kevin Loughery switch Erving to guard the red-hot Jimmy Jones and Jones would not score and only get 1 shot the rest of the way. The Nets would take the lead for good at 81-80 just after the 5 minute mark. Kenon would then score off 3 straight offensive boards to help close it out. Twice he rebounded his own miss & the other was off an Erving miss. His 2nd putback put the Nets up 87-82 & his final drive, after he grabbed his own miss, made it 89-85 with 0:27 left.
| UTAH | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Seals | 22 2-9 0-0 2 2 4 2 2 4 4 |
| Wise | 46 7-19 6-6 0 12 12 2 3 3 20 |
| Govan | 37 6-13 0-0 4 8 12 2 3 4 12 |
| Jones | 46 9-12 7-10 1 0 1 2 3 2 25 |
| Boone | 45 5-12 2-2 1 5 6 1 4 4 12 |
| Mount | 13 4-10 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 1 8 |
| Ebron | 11 0-3 2-4 3 1 4 0 1 1 2 |
| Neumann | 13 0-3 2-2 1 2 3 1 1 0 2 |
| Beasley | 7 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 |
| TOTALS 240 33-83 19-24 12 32 44 10 18 19 85 | |
| 3-PT: Jones 0-1, Neumann 0-1, Beasley 0-1 | |
| BL- Govan 1, Mount 1 | |
| ST- Boone 5, Wise 3, Jones 2, Mount 1 | |
| NEW YORK | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Erving | 47 19-29 9-10 1 9 10 3 3 3 47 |
| Kenon | 32 9-15 0-0 9 11 20 0 4 1 18 |
| Paultz | 41 4-11 0-2 2 9 11 1 0 2 8 |
| Taylor | 41 3-9 0-0 2 2 4 3 3 4 6 |
| Williamson | 35 2-12 2-2 1 0 1 5 4 3 6 |
| Ladner | 17 2-6 0-0 0 6 6 2 2 1 4 |
| Gale | 20 0-4 0-0 1 1 2 3 2 4 0 |
| Sojourner | 7 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 |
| TOTALS 240 39-87 11-14 16 38 54 18 18 19 89 | |
| 3-PT: Ladner 0-2, Williamson 0-1 | |
| BL- Erving 1, Paultz 1, Williamson 1, Gale 1 | |
| ST- Taylor 3, Erving 2, Paultz 2, Ladner 1 | |
| Utah | 14 26 25 20 85 |
| New York | 22 20 25 22 89 |
| A- 13,740 | |
Game #2 5/4/74 @New York
Gerald Govan tried to play with a leg injury which hampered the already short-handed Stars, who were playing again without center Zelmo Beaty. Beaty was missing his 5th straight game with a groin infection. Utah started the game with a 6-1 lead; that would be their only lead of the game. For the rest of the 1st half, N.Y. would outscore Utah 60-31. In the 1st period, the Stars would make only 26% of their shots & for the half, it would be only 28% shooting. With guards Brian Taylor & John Williamson in 1st half foul trouble, veteran former All-Star Bill Melchionni provided some key minutes. Melchionni had played only 15 minutes in the playoffs before this game. In all, the Net bench would contribute 51 points. Utah made one mini-run in the 3rd period when they cut the lead from 24 to 10, but they would not get it any closer.
| UTAH | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Seals | 18 2-6 2-2 2 1 3 0 0 3 7 |
| Wise | 43 7-18 5-6 1 11 12 4 4 3 19 |
| Govan | 33 2-10 2-4 2 10 12 5 0 2 6 |
| Jones | 44 7-11 5-5 3 5 8 3 3 3 19 |
| Boone | 44 5-17 2-3 2 2 4 8 3 2 12 |
| Mount | 34 8-20 1-2 0 1 1 2 3 5 17 |
| Ebron | 15 3-9 2-4 5 2 7 1 1 2 8 |
| Neumann | 9 3-9 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 6 |
| TOTALS 240 37-100 19-26 16 32 48 24 14 21 94 | |
| 3-PT: Seals 1-2, Boone 0-1, Mount 0-1, Ebron 0-1 | |
| BL- Ebron 3, Seals 1, Neumann 1 | |
| ST- Jones 3, Mount 2, Wise 1, Boone 1 | |
| NEW YORK | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Erving | 40 12-21 8-10 4 5 9 4 5 2 32 |
| Kenon | 24 3-7 0-3 3 10 13 1 4 4 6 |
| Paultz | 29 5-10 5-5 2 9 11 2 3 2 15 |
| Taylor | 16 2-6 3-3 3 1 4 4 2 4 7 |
| Williamson | 23 3-9 1-1 0 1 1 0 3 4 7 |
| Ladner | 16 4-9 0-2 2 1 3 1 0 5 8 |
| Gale | 31 4-9 0-0 2 7 9 2 0 3 8 |
| Melchionni | 25 4-7 2-2 0 2 2 7 2 1 10 |
| Sojourner | 19 3-7 0-0 1 5 6 2 2 0 6 |
| Schaeffer | 14 5-11 1-2 5 2 7 2 1 2 11 |
| O’Brien | 3 4-4 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 8 |
| TOTALS 240 49-100 20-28 23 43 66 26 22 28 118 | |
| 3-PT: none | |
| BL- Erving 3, Paultz 1, Williamson 1, Gale 1, Sojourner 1 | |
| ST- Erving 3, Paultz 2, Taylor 2, Ladner 2, Melchionni 1 | |
| Utah | 19 18 30 27 94 |
| New York | 28 33 20 37 118 |
| A- 15,934 | |
Game #3 5/6/74 @Salt Lake City
Zelmo Beaty returned to the line-up for Utah and played a big role for Utah. The 1st half was a tale of runs as N.Y. had a 13-0 run while Utah had runs of 12-2 & 10-0. The Nets would build a lead with a spurt fueled by a backcourt of Melchionni & Mike Gale. The Nets would build the lead to 85-70 with 8:00 left in the game. Then, led by Rick Mount’s hot shooting, the Stars came alive. They ran off a 14-0 run behind Mount, Jimmy Jones & Beaty. The Net lead was 85-84 with 4:44 left to play. The teams traded scores as Utah could not grab the lead. It was still a 1-point Net lead (91-90) at the 1-minute mark. Then Jones found Beaty for a lay-up to give the Stars a 92-91 lead. After an Erving turnover, Wise hit 2 free throws with 10 seconds left that made it 94-91. Wendall Ladner missed a 3-pointer, but grabbed his own rebound and fed Brian Taylor. Taylor knocked down a 25-foot bomb as the buzzer sounded. Kenon scored 4 quick points to give N.Y. a 98-94 lead, but Utah tied the game at 98. Billy Paultz hit a lay-up to give N.Y. the lead. After Erving grabbed a defensive board, he scored on a spectacular offensive rebound basket to make it 102-98. Another Erving board followed by a free throw gave the Nets a 5-point lead with only 8 seconds left.
| NEW YORK | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Erving | 47 9-22 6-11 5 8 13 7 6 4 24 |
| Kenon | 47 9-20 0-0 5 7 12 2 2 2 18 |
| Paultz | 46 6-13 5-6 1 11 12 1 1 5 17 |
| Taylor | 37 7-15 0-0 3 2 5 3 2 1 15 |
| Williamson | 26 7-14 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 5 14 |
| Gale | 35 3-6 5-5 0 2 2 8 1 2 11 |
| Ladner | 12 1-7 0-0 1 2 3 3 1 3 2 |
| Melchionni | 8 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 1 2 |
| Sojourner | 7 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 4 0 |
| TOTALS 265 43-100 16-22 17 34 51 27 14 27 103 | |
| 3-PT: Taylor 1-1, Ladner 0-1 | |
| BL- Gale 2, Paultz 1, Erving 1 | |
| ST- Taylor 3, Kenon 1, Ladner 1, Gale 1 | |
| UTAH | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Govan | 34 3-8 0-0 2 8 10 5 3 3 6 |
| Wise | 51 7-20 6-9 2 10 12 2 1 3 20 |
| Beaty | 46 7-13 8-10 3 13 16 1 2 3 22 |
| Boone | 27 1-8 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 2 |
| Jones | 50 12-20 4-4 4 5 9 6 6 3 28 |
| Mount | 31 7-17 5-5 0 3 3 1 0 3 19 |
| Beasley | 15 0-1 1-2 1 1 2 1 2 4 1 |
| Neumann | 6 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 |
| Seals | 5 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 |
| TOTALS 240 38=89 24-30 13 41 54 19 15 21 100 | |
| 3-PT: none | |
| BL- Wise 2, Beaty 2, Jones 2, Beasley 2, Mount 1 | |
| ST- Beaty 2, Govan 1 | |
| New York | 17 26 31 20 9 103 |
| Utah | 25 18 19 32 6 100 |
| A- 10,743 | |
Game #4 5/8/74 @Salt Lake City
Utah avoided becoming the 1st team to be swept in the ABA Finals as the rallied in the 4th. Utah build a 46-30 2nd quarter lead before Beaty had to go to the bench. With him out, N.Y. closed the half on a 12-4 run. The Nets scored the first 8 points of the 3rd period to tie the game at 50 with 10:10 left in the 3rd. Wise’s suffocating defense helped hold Erving in check for the Stars as he scored under 20 points; a rare playoff occurrence. Beaty hit a 17-foot jumper to put Utah back on top, but the Nets would still lead by 2 after 3 periods. Beaty scored all of his points in the 2nd half. The Stars scored the first 8 points of the final period to grab the lead for good. They led 86-80 when Taylor drained a trey to cut the lead in half. The lead was sliced to 91-89 with 3 minutes left when N.Y. had a chance to tie. They missed and Wise scored on a tip-in to push the lead back to 4, 93-89 at the 2:27 mark. Paultz then missed and Govan grabbed the board. Taylor missed a trey and Erving missed the tip. Wise hit a shot from the corner that made it 95-89 with only 0:45 left.
| NEW YORK | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Erving | 41 9-22 0-0 2 7 9 7 4 2 18 |
| Kenon | 35 7-14 0-2 6 9 15 1 1 3 14 |
| Paultz | 40 6-11 1-3 1 6 7 1 0 3 13 |
| Taylor | 31 7-14 2-2 1 1 2 3 2 5 17 |
| Williamson | 35 8-14 1-1 1 2 3 2 1 4 17 |
| Gale | 22 2-8 0-0 1 4 5 4 0 3 4 |
| Ladner | 16 2-7 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 3 4 |
| Melchionni | 12 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 1 0 |
| Sojourner | 8 1-2 0-0 2 0 2 0 0 1 2 |
| TOTALS 240 42-94 4-8 15 31 46 22 10 25 89 | |
| 3-PT: Taylor 1-2, Erving 0-2, Ladner 0-2 | |
| BL- Paultz 3, Erving 1, Gale 1 | |
| ST- Kenon 2, Erving 2 | |
| UTAH | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Govan | 41 3-9 0-2 5 18 23 0 2 2 6 |
| Wise | 42 9-13 1-2 1 2 3 4 4 3 19 |
| Beaty | 36 8-17 2-2 1 7 8 1 1 2 18 |
| Boone | 47 11-22 0-0 3 4 7 10 0 3 22 |
| Jones | 38 9-13 6-7 0 4 4 4 1 3 24 |
| Mount | 19 2-8 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 4 |
| Neumann | 12 1-4 2-2 1 1 2 1 1 0 4 |
| Beasley | 5 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 |
| TOTALS 240 43-89 11-15 11 37 48 23 10 15 97 | |
| 3-PT: none | |
| BL- none | |
| ST- Jones 3, Boone 1 | |
| New York | 18 24 34 13 89 |
| Utah | 26 24 24 23 97 |
| A- 10,254 | |
Game #5 5/10/74 @New York
Wise continued to play excellent defense on Erving, but could not keep him off the boards. Beaty was ineffective as foul trouble & injuries limited him. The Nets maintained a small lead through most of the game, but Utah had nudged ahead late. With only 4:46 left, the Stars took a 95-94 lead on a Boone hoop. The Nets would then close the game in a rush. Led by Williamson & Kenon, they outscored the Stars 16-5 the rest of the way. Williamson had 8 points & Kenon 10 points in the final period to offset Wise’s defense on Erving. The Nets had gone 22-3 in their last 25 games (10-1 to close the regular season & 12-2 in the playoffs).
| UTAH | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Govan | 43 5-7 0-0 3 7 10 1 2 4 10 |
| Wise | 48 14-27 5-6 2 6 8 6 2 3 34 |
| Beaty | 25 2-8 0-0 0 0 0 1 1 4 4 |
| Jones | 44 9-18 2-3 3 3 6 4 3 3 20 |
| Boone | 47 8-16 2-2 3 4 7 5 3 0 18 |
| Mount | 28 7-15 0-0 0 3 3 2 2 0 14 |
| Beasley | 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 |
| Ebron | 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
| TOTALS 240 45-91 9-11 11 23 34 19 14 15 100 | |
| 3-PT: Wise 1-1, Boone 0-2, Mount 0-2, Jones 0-1 | |
| BL- Govan 5, Beaty 1, Wise 1 | |
| ST- Jones 4, Beaty 3, Wise 2, Boone 1, Mount 1 | |
| NEW YORK | MN FG-FGA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS TO PF PTS |
| Erving | 44 9-19 1-1 5 11 16 4 5 3 20 |
| Kenon | 35 11-20 1-1 8 3 11 2 3 3 23 |
| Paultz | 44 8-16 5-6 2 10 12 1 3 2 21 |
| Taylor | 38 8-12 3-4 1 2 3 3 1 3 19 |
| Williamson | 41 7-16 1-2 2 5 7 5 3 4 15 |
| Ladner | 17 4-7 0-0 1 4 5 1 1 2 9 |
| Gale | 17 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 5 0 0 2 |
| Sojourner | 4 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 |
| TOTALS 240 49-95 11-14 19 35 54 22 16 17 111 | |
| 3-PT: Erving 1-1, Ladner 1-1, Williamson 0-1 | |
| BL- Erving 1, Williamson 1 | |
| ST- Paultz 4, Taylor 3, Erving 2, Kenon 1 | |
| Utah | 27 21 29 23 110 |
| New York | 28 22 30 31 111 |
| A- 15,934 | |
| COMPOSITE BOXSCORE | |
| NEW YORK | G MN FG-FGA 3P-3PA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS PF ST TO BL PTS |
| Erving | 5 219 58-113 1-3 24-32 17 40 57 25 14 9 23 7 141 |
| Paultz | 5 200 29-61 0-0 16-22 8 45 53 6 14 8 7 5 74 |
| Kenon | 5 173 39-76 0-0 1-6 31 40 71 6 13 4 14 0 79 |
| Taylor | 5 163 27-56 2-3 8-9 10 8 18 16 17 11 10 0 64 |
| Williamson | 5 160 27-65 0-2 5-6 5 8 13 12 20 2 11 0 59 |
| Gale | 5 125 10-31 0-0 5-5 4 14 18 22 12 1 3 5 25 |
| Ladner | 5 78 13-36 1-6 0-2 5 14 19 8 14 5 6 0 27 |
| Melchionni | 5 45 5-12 0-0 2-2 1 4 5 13 3 1 2 0 12 |
| Sojourner | 5 45 5-11 0-0 0-0 3 6 9 4 6 0 3 1 10 |
| Schaeffer | 1 14 5-11 0-0 1-2 5 2 7 2 2 0 1 0 11 |
| O’Brien | 1 3 4-4 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 8 |
| TOTALS | 5 222-416 4-14 62-86 90 181 271 115 116 41 80 18 510 |
| UTAH | G MN FG-FGA 3P-3PA FT-FTA OR DR RB AS PF ST TO BL PTS |
| Wise | 5 230 44-97 1-1 23-29 6 41 47 18 15 6 14 1 112 |
| Jones | 5 222 46-74 0-2 24-29 11 17 28 19 14 12 16 2 116 |
| Boone | 5 210 30-75 0-3 6-7 9 16 25 26 11 8 10 0 66 |
| Govan | 5 188 19-47 0-0 2-6 16 51 67 13 15 1 10 6 40 |
| Mount | 5 124 28-70 0-3 6-7 0 9 9 8 9 4 6 2 62 |
| Beaty | 3 107 17-38 0-0 10-12 4 20 24 3 9 5 3 4 44 |
| Seals | 3 45 4-15 1-2 2-2 5 3 8 2 7 0 2 1 11 |
| Neumann | 4 40 5-18 0-1 4-4 3 3 6 4 1 0 3 1 14 |
| Beasley | 4 37 0-6 0-1 1-2 1 1 2 1 7 0 4 2 1 |
| Ebron | 3 27 3-12 0-1 4-8 8 3 11 1 3 0 2 3 10 |
| TOTALS | 5 196-452 2-14 82-106 63 164 227 95 91 36 70 22 476 |