High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1973 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association`s 1972-1973 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, four games to one in the NBA Finals. The Knicks won their second (and as of 2011, most recent) NBA championship. New York`s Willis Reed became the first player to win the NBA Finals MVP twice, in the fifth year of the award`s existence.