1974
Boston Celtics
Series Flow
0
Wins
0
Losses
Regular Season
56–26
Win–Loss
Playoff Record
12–6
Win–Loss
Finals
0–0
vs Milwaukee Bucks
Finals MVP
Cowens
Dave
Boston Celtics
56–26Milwaukee Bucks
59–23Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the most dominant player in basketball at 26 years old. The Bucks had won the championship three years earlier. They pushed the Celtics to seven games with the skyhook as their primary weapon.
Finals MVP
Dave Cowens
#18 · Center
20.7
PPG
14.7
RPG
4.4
APG
Outplayed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar over seven games through tenacity and intelligence rather than physical dominance.
Became the first Boston Celtics player to win Finals MVP
His seven-game series against Kareem is one of the great individual Finals matchups in history
How the Series Unfolded
The Champions
22.1
PPG
6.4
RPG
"Hondo" — played through exhaustion and a shoulder injury to deliver in seven games.
They Pushed Us to the Limit
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the most dominant player in basketball at 26 years old. The Bucks had won the championship three years earlier. They pushed the Celtics to seven games with the skyhook as their primary weapon.
32.1
PPG
13.0
RPG
3.1
BPG
At his physical peak — 32 PPG in the Finals and still lost in seven games to Cowens. The greatest individual performance by a losing player in this era.
History Written in 1974
Boston Celtics
12th NBA Championship
Dave Cowens
First Finals MVP in Celtics history
Dave Cowens
Outplayed Kareem in his physical prime over seven games — one of the great individual Finals matchups
Beyond the Box Score
Dave Cowens was the smallest center in the NBA who consistently played against the biggest. Against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — averaging 32 points per game in the 1974 Finals — Cowens competed through quickness, intelligence, and refusal to be dominated. The Celtics won in seven.
The Full Story
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 32 points and 13 rebounds per game in the 1974 NBA Finals. Dave Cowens averaged 21 and 15. The Celtics won. In seven games.
It remains one of the great individual matchups in Finals history — a smaller, quicker center refusing to be dominated by the greatest center of his era. The Celtics' 12th championship was built on Cowens' ferocity and Havlicek's veteran leadership.