- 1973–74 San Diego Conquistadors season
NBA season
team = San Diego Conquistadors
end_year = 1974
wins = 37
losses = 47
division = Western
division_place = 4th
conf_place = 4th
coach =Wilt Chamberlain
arena = Golden Hall (3,200)
playoffs = Lost Western Division SemifinalsThe 1973-74American Basketball Association season saw theSan Diego Conquistadors acquireWilt Chamberlain as a player and coach, finish tied for fourth place in the ABA's Western Division, defeat theDenver Rockets in a one-game playoff for that spot and then bow out to theUtah Stars 4 games to 2 in the Western Division Semifinals.Offseason
Draft picks
[ [http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/ABA_1974.html 1973-74 ABA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com ] ]
Game Log
1973–74 San Diego Conquistadors season
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January
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April
-! colspan=2 style="color:# D40026" | [http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SDA/1974_games.html 1973–74 Schedule]
Month by Month
October 1973
The Conquistadors opened the ABA season on October 10, 1973 with a road game against the
After a week off, the Conquistadors again faced the Rockets, this time on their home court in San Diego. The Conquistadors lost again to the Rockets, 113-100. Stew Johnson scored 23 points in front of 2,468 fans. Two nights later on October 21 the Conquistadors took to their home court in front of 2,261 fans and lost a double-overtime game to the
On October 26 the Conquistadors, now 1-5, took the court in San Diego against the
On October 28 the Conquistadors took their home floor against Memphis and the teams set an ABA record for the most 2 point field goals in a single game by two teams (117). The Conquistadors won, 146-133, in front of 1,906 fans.
On October 29 the Conquistadors signed
November 1973
The Conquistadors took a 3-5 record into November. On November 1 the Q's and Tams met again, this time in Memphis, and the Conquistadors repeated as victors, 103-100, in front of 6,273 fans. The following night in Salt Lake City the Conquistadors took their improved 4-5 record into the Salt Palace in front of 7,168 fans but lost to the Stars 126-110.
November 6 saw the Q's on the road at Denver, losing 110-104 to the Rockets before a crowd of 2,058. The following night in San Antonio the Conquistadors managed only 9 points in the entire first quarter against the Spurs. A furious comeback led by Bo Lamar's 34 points made for a tight game but the Q's could not overcome their terrible first quarter and lost 105-104 in front of 7,101 fans. That same day, November 7, brought bad news for the franchise: a ballot initiative to fund team owner Leonard Bloom's proposed 20,000 seat arena was defeated by the electorate. 19,000 ballots were cast in the referendum and the proposal lost by only 294 votes. As a result, attendance problems, which already were bad because the Q's were forced to play in tiny Golden Hall (3,200 seats) instead of in the San Diego Sports Arena, became worse as rumors swirled that the Conquistadors would move to Los Angeles at the end of the season. The league did, in fact, on November 10 order Bloom to begin investigating such a move.
The Q's next took the court on November 10, facing the New York Nets in San Diego.
November 14 brought the Q's to Salt Lake City once again, where the Stars prevailed 129-119 in front of 6,354 fans despite Stew Johnson's game-high 23 points. On November 16 the Conquistadors lost in overtime at home against the Denver Rockets, 130-126; only 1,666 fans were reported for the game. The following night the Q's lost to the Spurs in San Antonio, 118-96; Stew Johnson scored 32 in front of 4,046 fans.
On November 21 the Q's took their home floor in front of 1,685 fans and defeated the
On the 30th the Conquistadors took an 8-14 record into their final game of November, a home matchup against the
December 1973
On the 2nd they opened the month at home against the Utah Stars and won 105-100 before 1,230 fans. Another win came two nights later in Memphis as the Q's bested the Tams 112-101 before 2,285 fans. The following night the Conquistadors took their improved 11-14 record to Denver but lost a lopsided game to the Rockets, 138-108, in front of 3,773 fans. On the 7th came another loss, 121-113, in front of 7,158 fans on the Utah Stars' homecourt. The following night saw a home loss to the Spurs, 95-85, with attendance at 1,624.
On December 11 Wilt Chamberlain's bench role became final as an arbitrator ruled that, due to the option year on his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers (later thrown out in the
December 12 saw the Q's prevail 119-113 on the Indiana Pacers' home court; Bo Lamar had 30 points, as did Indiana's
On December 19 the Conquistadors took their 14-18 record to Denver and defeated the Rockets 118-113 before 3,031 fans. December 21 saw the Conquistadors pull out a 140-130 win against the Carolina Cougars in front of 1,368 home fans. The following night in San Antonio the Q's earned an overtime victory in front of 8,769 Spurs fans; the final score was 129-123 and the Conquistadors were now one game away from .500 with 17 wins and 18 losses. Once again, however, the Conquistadors had a three game winning streak ended by the Kentucky Colonels, 123-120 in San Diego. 2,368 fans were announced as Dan Issel led all scorers with 31 points. A 102-98 road loss to the Utah Stars followed, as 6,157 fans watched. One night later the Q's lost at home 104-76 to the San Antonio Spurs.
December 29 saw the Conquistadors rebound with a 124-119 home victory against the New York Nets. The Nets had a 22 point lead at halftime but the Conquistadors mounted a furious comeback to down that season's eventual ABA champions. Attendance improved to 2,511 for that game but dipped to 1,816 the following night as the Indiana Pacers managed a one point win against the Q's, 109-108. San Diego ended December and 1973 with an 18-22 record.
January 1974
January 1974 saw the Conquistadors trade
On January 4 the Q's opened the new year in front of 2,101 fans but lost to the San Antonio Spurs 112-105. The next evening saw a loss on the road at Denver; the Rockets prevailed 146-122 as
On January 17 the Q's dropped a matchup against the Spurs in San Antonio 101-97; 4,138 attended and Bird Averitt scored 35. The following evening 1,683 saw San Diego lose a home game to Denver, 120-113. January 20 brought the Q's to Indianapolis for a one point loss to the Pacers, 123-122, as Bo Lamar and George McGinnis each scored 40 points in front of 9,164 fans. January 23 saw the Conquistadors, 2-9 in January so far, pull off an upset, defeating the Kentucky Colonels 106-99 in Louisville in front of 9,307 as Bo Lamar led all scorers with 25 points. The next evening San Diego won its second road game in a row 125-108 against the Virginia Squires despite
February 1974
The Conquistadors opened the new month with a home win on its first day, defeating the Indiana Pacers 124-119 despite George McGinnis' 38 points; San Diego's attendance problems continued as only 1,237 fans came to the game. February 3 brought another home victory for the Q's as they defeated the Virginia Squires 107-104, with 1,058 in attendance. On February 6 the Conquistadors, in front of 1,236 fans, took their home win streak to three games by defeating the Memphis Tams 136-120. The streak went to four on February 8 as the traveling San Antonio Spurs lost 120-105 as Bo Lamar put in 48 points in front of a crowd of 1,326. On February 10 the Q's, now 25-34, had their home win streak come to an end as the Utah Stars prevailed 120-107 despite Bo Lamar's 30 points. On February 13 the Conquistadors lost at home to the Indiana Pacers, 128-119; 1,066 attended. February 17 saw another San Diego home win and improved attendance as the Conquistadors took down the Carolina Cougars 129-123 in front of 1,866 as Travis Grant put in 41 points. Another home win came on February 20 as the Q's defeated the Utah Stars 109-97 in front of 1,184 fans. February 22 brought a road loss to the New York Nets, 121-113; the Conquistadors' next game, on February 26, was a 126-119 win on the Virginia Squires' home court as Travis Grant led all scorers with 32. The next evening brought another road win, 119-117 against the Carolina Cougars. February was San Diego's best of the season with an 8-3 record, bringing the team to an overall record of 30-37.
March 1974
San Diego's solid February gave way to a bad stretch to start March. The Conquistadors faced the New York Nets on the road on the first day of the month and lost 138-119 despite Stew Johnson's 35 points. March 3 saw the Conquistadors routed at Denver, 139-112; five Rockets scored 20 or more points. Next on March 6 came a 123-97 road loss to the New York Nets, and March 8 saw the Q's lose on the San Antonio Spurs' court 115-113 despite Bo Lamar's 39 points. The next evening saw the Conquistadors' first victory of the month, a 100-96 home win against Denver as Stew Johnson scored 29 in front of 1,020 fans. San Diego repeated that feat the following night in Denver, winning 114-99 behind Bo Lamar's 33. March 13 brought a home victory against the Virginia Squires, 119-103; Caldwell Jones scored 34 in front of 1,319. The Q's three game win streak ended on the road on March 15 as the Indiana Pacers won 145-129, with Tim Bassett setting a record with 18 offensive rebounds. The next evening brought a road win against the Carolina Cougars, 101-90; Bo Lamar had 26 points. The next night saw San Diego lose a close game at home to the Memphis Tams, 118-115; 1,583 attended as Bo Lamar scored 34. March 20 brought a win for the Q's, 125-122 at home against the Virginia Squires, as 2,598 - a great crowd for San Diego though not for the league - saw Stew Johnson pour in 45 points. March 22 saw a 111-106 road loss to the New York Nets despite Caldwell Jones' 27; a 109-101 road loss to the Virginia Squires came on the next night. On March 24 Caldwell Jones led all scorers with 30 points on the Kentucky Colonels' home court but Kentucky won 122-111 in front of 9,115 fans. March 26 brought a 110-105 road win against the Memphis Tams behind Bo Lamar's 33 points; the following night the Conquistadors defeated the Kentucky Colonels in San Diego 121-108 as 3,006 fans saw Stew Johnson score 40 points.
With that upset and the two game win streak the Conquistadors edged themselves into a tie with the Denver Rockets for fourth place in the Western Division as they finished the regular season with a record of 37-47 after going 7-9 in March. San Diego's average home attendance for the season stood at 1,843, a drop off of 404 from their average of 2,247 during the prior season, their first. Bo Lamar was named to the ABA All-Rookie Team as the Conquistadors headed for a one-game playoff with Denver for the right to enter the
Playoffs
The Conquistadors and the
The Western Division Semifinals began the very next day, on March 30, at the
On April 3 the teams met in San Diego and the Conquistadors won a close game 97-96 to cut the Stars' series lead to 2-1. The following night, April 4, the Conquistadors evened up the series at 2-2 with a 100-98 victory on their home court.
The teams then returned to Salt Lake City where, on April 6, the Stars won 100-93 to take a 3-2 series lead.
On April 8 the Stars and Conquistadors met in San Diego for Game 6 in the series. The Stars prevailed 110-99 to eliminate the Conquistadors and advance to the Western Division Finals against the
Player statistics
Legend
* GP: Games played
* GS: Games started
* MPG: Minutes per game
* FG%: Field goal percentage
* 3FG%: 3-point field goal percentage
* FT%:
* RPG: Rebounds per game
* APG: Assists per game
* SPG: Steals per game
* BPG: Blocks per game
* PPG: Points per game
eason
Playoffs
Awards and records
Awards
*Stew Johnson: ABA All-Star
*Bo Lamar: ABA All-Rookie Team
Records
*October 28, 1973: combined with Memphis Tams for ABA record most 2 point field goals for two teams combined (117)
*November 7, 1973: fewest points (9) in a first quarter, season (vs. San Antonio Spurs)
*November 30, 1973: most points (86) in the first half, season (vs. Virginia Squires)
*January 5, 1974: Warren Jabali, 19 assists (vs. Denver Rockets)
*January 6, 1974: Caldwell Jones, most blocked shots in one game (tied record with 12), vs. Carolina Cougars
*March 15, 1974: Tim Bassett, ABA record 18 offensive rebounds (vs. Indiana Pacers)
Transactions
Draft and preseason signings
The Conquistadors drafted Bird Averitt, who signed with the San Antonio Spurs, and Bo Lamar and Tim Bassett, both of whom signed with and played for the Conquistadors. In the undergraduate draft the Conquistadors drafted UCLA's star center Bill Walton, who opted to stay in school. On September 26, 1973 Wilt Chamberlain was signed to a 3 year, $1.8 million contract as the team's player-coach, but litigation with the Los Angeles Lakers kept Chamberlain off the court. Travis "Machine Gun" Grant was signed in the pre-season.
Trades
*October 29, 1973: Larry Miller traded to the Virginia Squires for Caldwell Jones
*January 1974: Red Robbins and Chuck Williams traded to the Kentucky Colonels for Jimmy O'Brien and a future draft pick
References
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SDA/1974.html Conquistadors on Basketball Reference]
External links
* [http://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1974Playoffs.html RememberTheABA.com 1973-74 regular season and playoff results]
* [http://www.remembertheaba.com/San-Diego-Conquistadors.html RememberTheABA.com San Diego Conquistadors page]
* [http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAYearlyGameLogs/7374Part1.html RememberTheABA.com 1973-74 game by game results]
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