1971–72 Houston Rockets season

{{NBA season

| team = Houston Rockets

| end_year = 1972

| wins = 34

| losses = 48

| division = Pacific

| division_place = 4

| conf_place = 7

| coach = Tex Winter

| gm = Pete Newell

| owners =

| arena =

| playoffs = Did not qualify

| bbr_team = HOU

| television = KHTV

| radio = KPRC

| prev_name = San Diego Rockets

}}

The 1971-72 NBA season was the Rockets' 5th season in the NBA and 1st season in the city of Houston[https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1972.html 1971–72 Houston Rockets] following their relocation from San Diego, where the franchise played its first four seasons prior to moving to becoming the first NBA franchise in Texas.

Offseason

=Draft picks=

Roster

{{NBA roster header|team=Houston Rockets|season=1971–72

|color1 = #FFFFFF

|bg1 = #B50000

|color2 = #000000

|bg2 = #FFD700}}

{{player2 | num = 34 | first = Dick | last = Cunningham | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 10 | lbs = 245 | DOB = 1946-07-11 | college = Murray State}}

{{player2 | num = 21 | first = Johnny | last = Egan | dab = basketball | pos = PG | ft = 5 | in = 11 | lbs = 180 | DOB = 1939-01-31 | college = Providence}}

{{player2 | num = 40 | first = Dick | last = Gibbs | dab = basketball | pos = SF | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = 210 | DOB = 1948-12-20 | college = Texas-El Paso}}

{{player2 | num = 44 | first = Elvin | last = Hayes | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 9 | lbs = 235 | DOB = 1945-11-17 | college = Houston}}

{{player2 | num = 22 | first = Stu | last = Lantz | pos = SG | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = 175 | DOB = 1946-07-13 | college = Nebraska}}

{{player2 | num = 18 | first = McCoy | last = McLemore | pos = SF | ft = 6 | in = 7 | lbs = 230 | DOB = 1942-04-03 | college = Drake University}}

{{player2 | num = 25 | first = Cliff | last = Meely | pos = PF | ft = 6 | in = 8 | lbs = 215 | DOB = 1947-07-10 | college = Colorado}}

{{player2 | num = 23 | first = Calvin | last = Murphy | pos = PG | ft = 5 | in = 9 | lbs = 165 | DOB = 1948-05-09 | college = Niagara}}

{{player2 | num = 14 | first = Mike | last = Newlin | pos = SG | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = 200 | DOB = 1949-01-02 | college = Utah}}

{{player2 | num = 4 | first = Greg | last = Smith | dab = basketball, born 1947 | pos = SF | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = 195 | DOB = 1947-01-28 | college = Western Kentucky}}

{{player2 | num = 45 | first = Rudy | last = Tomjanovich | pos = PF | ft = 6 | in = 8 | lbs = 218 | DOB = 1948-11-24 | college = Michigan}}

{{player2 | num = 33 | first = John | last = Vallely | pos = SG | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = 185 | DOB = 1948-10-03 | college = UCLA}}

{{NBA roster footer

| head_coach =

Tex Winter

| asst_coach =

Frank Hamblen

| roster_url = https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1972.html

| accessdate = December 16, 1971

}}

Regular season

=Season standings=

=Record vs. opponents=

colspan=18\|1971–72 NBA records
class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:center;"
width=100\|Team !style="background:#003EA4;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|ATL !style="background:#E45206;color:#002854;width=35"\|BAL !style="background:#006400;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|BOS !style="background:#FF8201;color:#000000;width=35"\|BUF !style="background:#BA0C2F;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|CHI !style="background:#012F6B;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|CIN !style="background:#77222F;color:#FFA402;width=35"\|CLE !style="background:#012F6B;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|DET !style="background:#FFC62C;color:#012F6B;width=35"\|GSW !style="background:#BA0C2F;color:#FEC72E;width=35"\|HOU !style="background:#800080;color:#FFD700;width=35"\|LAL !style="background:#006400;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|MIL !style="background:#003EA4;color:#E35208;width=35"\|NYK !style="background:#012268;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|PHI !style="background:#702F8B;color:#FA4417;width=35"\|PHO !style="background:#BA0C2F;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|POR !style="background:#173F36;color:#EBAA00;width=35"\|SEA
style="text-align:left;" \| Atlanta	—	2–4	0–4	4–2	0–5	3–3	4–2	3–2	3–2	1–4	0–5	2–3	3–1	3–3	3–2	4–0	1–4
style="text-align:left;" \| Baltimore	4–2	—	2–2	3–3	1–4	4–2	1–5	3–2	1–4	3–2	1–4	0–5	2–4	4–0	4–1	3–1	2–3
style="text-align:left;" \| Boston	4–0	2–2	—	6–0	3–2	4–2	5–1	5–0	2–3	5–0	1–4	2–3	3–3	6–0	2–3	4–0	2–3
style="text-align:left;" \| Buffalo	2–4	3–3	0–6	—	1–3	3–3	4–2	2–4	1–3	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–5	3–3	0–4	2–4	0–4
style="text-align:left;" \| Chicago	5–0	4–1	2–3	3–1	—	3–1	4–0	5–1	3–3	5–1	1–3	2–4	3–2	4–1	5–1	6–0	2–3
style="text-align:left;" \| Cincinnati	3–3	2–4	2–4	3–3	1–3	—	6–2	2–3	2–3	0–4	1–4	0–5	2–2	2–2	2–3	2–2	0–5
style="text-align:left;" \| Cleveland	2–4	5–1	1–5	2–4	0–4	2–6	—	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–5	2–4	0–4	4–2	0–4
style="text-align:left;" \| Detroit	2–3	2–3	0–5	4–2	1–5	3–2	3–1	—	0–5	3–3	1–4	1–5	1–4	1–4	2–4	2–2	0–4
style="text-align:left;" \| Golden State	2–3	4–1	3–2	3–1	3–3	3–2	4–0	5–0	—	5–1	1–5	2–2	2–3	4–1	2–3	4–2	4–2
style="text-align:left;" \| Houston	4–1	2–3	0–5	4–0	1–5	4–0	2–2	3–3	1–5	—	1–5	0–5	0–5	4–1	1–3	4–2	3–3
style="text-align:left;" \| Los Angeles	5–0	4–1	4–1	4–0	3–1	4–1	3–1	4–1	5–1	5–1	—	4–1	4–1	5–0	4–2	6–0	5–1
style="text-align:left;" \| Milwaukee	3–2	5–0	3–2	4–0	4–2	5–0	4–0	5–1	2–2	5–0	1–4	—	2–3	4–1	4–2	6–0	6–0
style="text-align:left;" \| New York	1–3	4–2	3–3	5–1	2–3	2–2	5–1	4–1	3–2	5–0	1–4	3–2	—	3–3	1–4	3–1	3–2
style="text-align:left;" \| Philadelphia	3–3	0–4	0–6	3–3	1–4	2–2	4–2	4–1	1–4	1–4	0–5	1–4	3–3	—	1–4	2–2	4–1
style="text-align:left;" \| Phoenix	2–3	1–4	3–2	4–0	1–5	3–2	4–0	4–2	3–2	3–1	2–4	2–4	4–1	4–1	—	6–0	3–2
style="text-align:left;" \| Portland	0–4	1–3	0–4	4–2	0–6	2–2	2–4	2–2	2–4	2–4	0–6	0–6	1–3	2–2	0–6	—	0–6
style="text-align:left;" \| Seattle	4–1	3–2	3–2	4–0	3–2	5–0	4–0	4–0	2–4	3–3	1–5	0–6	2–3	1–4	2–3	6–0	—

=Game log=

colspan=11 style="background:#FF0000; color:#FFD700;" \| 1971–72 Game log
class="toccolours collapsible" width=50% style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center"
align="center" bgcolor="#dddddd" \| #	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 1	October 14	Philadelphia	105–94	Rudy Tomjanovich (28)	0–1
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 2	October 16	@ Phoenix	108–128	Elvin Hayes (26)	0–2
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 3	October 17	N Detroit	99–112	Calvin Murphy (26)	0–3
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 4	October 20	N Chicago	110–125	Stu Lantz (33)	0–4
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 5	October 22	@ Seattle	91–110	Rudy Tomjanovich (18)	0–5
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 6	October 24	Los Angeles	113–103	Elvin Hayes (35)	0–6
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 7	October 26	@ Detroit	104–103	Elvin Hayes (30)	1–6
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 8	October 27	@ Boston	97–108	Rudy Tomjanovich (25)	1–7
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 9	October 28	@ New York	94–112	Calvin Murphy (21)	1–8
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 10	October 31	Buffalo	87–102	Cliff Meely (19)	2–8
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 11	November 3	New York	117–98	Rudy Tomjanovich (26)	2–9
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 12	November 4	Portland	112–110	Elvin Hayes (28)	2–10
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 13	November 7	Baltimore	109–106	Elvin Hayes (38)	2–11
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 14	November 9	@ Golden State	99–115	Stu Lantz (30)	2–12
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 15	November 10	Boston	142–103	Elvin Hayes (30)	2–13
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 16	November 12	@ Milwaukee	102–111	Stu Lantz (26)	2–14
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 17	November 13	@ Chicago	102–111	Elvin Hayes (33)	2–15
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 18	November 16	@ Baltimore	107–110	Elvin Hayes (31)	2–16
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 19	November 17	@ Philadelphia	118–112	Elvin Hayes (33)	3–16
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 20	November 19	@ Los Angeles	99–106	Elvin Hayes (26)	3–17
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 21	November 21	N Golden State	115–96	Mike Newlin (31)	4–17
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 22	November 24	Philadelphia	108–109	Hayes, Tomjanovich (27)	5–17
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 23	November 28	Phoenix	116–110	Elvin Hayes (30)	5–18
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 24	November 30	@ Buffalo	115–101	Lantz, Murphy (18)	6–18
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 25	December 1	@ Cleveland	106–116	Lantz, Murphy (24)	6–19
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 26	December 3	@ Detroit	112–113	Elvin Hayes (35)	6–20
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 27	December 4	@ Boston	107–117	Elvin Hayes (28)	6–21
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 28	December 8	Los Angeles	125–120	Elvin Hayes (31)	6–22
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 29	December 10	Atlanta	88–95	Stu Lantz (28)	7–22
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 30	December 11	@ Phoenix	111–110	Hayes, Murphy (24)	8–22
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 31	December 12	Seattle	98–100	Elvin Hayes (34)	9–22
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 32	December 14	@ Milwaukee	98–106	Cliff Meely (20)	9–23
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 33	December 15	@ Atlanta	117–115 (OT)	Stu Lantz (30)	10–23
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 34	December 17	@ Chicago	109–98	Stu Lantz (31)	11–23
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 35	December 18	@ Cincinnati	126–116	Elvin Hayes (29)	12–23
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 36	December 21	@ Portland	132–119	Elvin Hayes (44)	13–23
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 37	December 26	@ Los Angeles	115–137	Elvin Hayes (33)	13–24
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 38	December 29	Phoenix	124–106	Stu Lantz (19)	13–25
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 39	December 30	Atlanta	115–129	Elvin Hayes (42)	14–25
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 40	January 2	Detroit	109–107	Elvin Hayes (26)	14–26
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 41	January 4	Seattle	110–119	Calvin Murphy (28)	15–26
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 42	January 5	Boston	113–105	Elvin Hayes (25)	15–27
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 43	January 9	Golden State	113–112	Calvin Murphy (25)	15–28
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 44	January 11	@ Seattle	126–141	Elvin Hayes (42)	15–29
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 45	January 15	Cleveland	109–112	Elvin Hayes (30)	16–29
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 46	January 16	New York	109–108	Elvin Hayes (24)	16–30
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 47	January 20	@ Cincinnati	104–87	Elvin Hayes (27)	17–30
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 48	January 21	@ Boston	105–110	Rudy Tomjanovich (25)	17–31
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 49	January 22	@ Chicago	108–115	Elvin Hayes (23)	17–32
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 50	January 23	@ Detroit	109–107	Stu Lantz (32)	18–32
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 51	January 25	Portland	104–118	Elvin Hayes (27)	19–32
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 52	January 26	N Chicago	108–117	Elvin Hayes (36)	19–33
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 53	January 28	@ Los Angeles	105–118	Elvin Hayes (33)	19–34
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 54	February 2	N Seattle	88–111	Greg Smith (23)	20–34
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 55	February 4	@ Portland	113–114	Elvin Hayes (28)	20–35
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 56	February 5	Milwaukee	119–112	Stu Lantz (30)	20–36
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 57	February 6	Atlanta	113–120	Calvin Murphy (27)	21–36
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 58	February 8	N Seattle	127–119	Elvin Hayes (31)	21–37
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 59	February 11	Baltimore	95–116	Calvin Murphy (28)	22–37
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 60	February 13	Cincinnati	111–112	Calvin Murphy (31)	23–37
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 61	February 14	@ Philadelphia	130–116	Elvin Hayes (28)	24–37
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 62	February 15	@ Baltimore	98–113	Elvin Hayes (31)	24–38
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 63	February 16	@ New York	100–110	Elvin Hayes (26)	24–39
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 64	February 18	@ Buffalo	108–96	Elvin Hayes (27)	25–39
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 65	February 23	N Los Angeles	110–115	Elvin Hayes (33)	26–39
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 66	February 26	Detroit	106–122	Elvin Hayes (36)	27–39
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 67	February 27	Golden State	117–104	Elvin Hayes (33)	27–40
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 68	March 1	N Cincinnati	108–96	Hayes, Lantz (26)	28–40
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 69	March 3	N Golden State	107–108	Rudy Tomjanovich (26)	28–41
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 70	March 4	Cleveland	130–123	Stu Lantz (31)	28–42
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 71	March 5	Chicago	128–97	Calvin Murphy (28)	28–43
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 72	March 9	N Portland	111–114	Rudy Tomjanovich (29)	29–43
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 73	March 10	Golden State	119–116	Calvin Murphy (35)	29–44
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 74	March 11	Buffalo	100–121	Stu Lantz (29)	30–44
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 75	March 12	Philadelphia	112–121	Rudy Tomjanovich (33)	31–44
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 76	March 16	New York	103–102	Elvin Hayes (37)	31–45
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 77	March 18	Milwaukee	120–116 (OT)	Elvin Hayes (39)	31–46
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 78	March 21	@ Milwaukee	94–111	Calvin Murphy (21)	31–47
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 79	March 22	@ Atlanta	106–107	Stu Lantz (29)	31–48
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 80	March 24	@ Cleveland	127–119	Rudy Tomjanovich (35)	32–48
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 81	March 25	@ Baltimore	106–85	Calvin Murphy (27)	33–48
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 82	March 26	Portland	109–131	Elvin Hayes (30)	34–48

References

Houston

Category:Houston Rockets seasons