Boston Celtics 1972-73 Roster and Statistics

Last Updated on July 30, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

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The 1972–73 Boston Celtics featured a balanced offense led by John Havlicek, whose scoring and playmaking made him the team’s primary perimeter threat, while Dave Cowens dominated the frontcourt with efficient scoring, elite rebounding, and strong defensive contributions. Jo Jo White added secondary scoring and ball-handling, and Paul Silas reinforced the team’s rebounding. The statistics reflected a well-rounded lineup built on balanced scoring, outstanding work on the glass, unselfish ball movement, and dependable two-way play.

Here’s the Boston Celtics 1972–73 roster and regular season player statistics. This was a strong year for the Celtics — they finished with an NBA-best 68–14 record under coach Tom Heinsohn, led by John Havlicek and Dave Cowens, who won NBA MVP that season.

Roster

No.	Player	Pos	Height	Weight	Birthdate	College
10	Jo Jo White	G	6-3	190 lbs	Nov 16, 1946	Kansas
17	John Havlicek	G/F	6-5	203 lbs	Apr 8, 1940	Ohio State
18	Don Nelson	F	6-6	210 lbs	May 15, 1940	Iowa
20	Art Williams	G	6-1	180 lbs	Sep 29, 1939	Cal Poly Pomona
23	Paul Westphal	G	6-4	195 lbs	Nov 30, 1950	USC
24	Hank Finkel	C	7-0	240 lbs	Apr 20, 1942	Dayton
26	Steve Kuberski	F	6-8	215 lbs	Nov 6, 1947	Bradley
27	Dave Cowens	C	6-9	230 lbs	Oct 25, 1948	Florida State
28	Henry Ward	G	6-4	180 lbs	Jan 30, 1947	Jackson State
31	Jim Ard	F/C	6-8	200 lbs	Sep 19, 1948	Cincinnati

Head Coach: Tom Heinsohn

Regular Season Per Game

NAME	POS	AGE	G	GS	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TOV	FGA	FGM	FG%	3PA	3PM	3P%	FTA	FTM	FT%
John Havlicek	SF	32	80	—	42.1	23.8	7.1	6.6	—	—	—	21.3	9.6	.450	—	—	—	5.4	4.6	.858
Dave Cowens	C	24	82	—	41.8	20.5	16.2	4.1	—	—	—	20.0	9.0	.452	—	—	—	3.2	2.5	.779
Jo Jo White	PG	26	82	—	39.6	19.7	5.0	6.1	—	—	—	20.3	8.7	.431	—	—	—	2.8	2.2	.781
Paul Silas	PF	29	80	—	32.7	13.3	13.0	3.1	—	—	—	10.6	5.0	.470	—	—	—	4.8	3.3	.700
Don Chaney	SG	26	79	—	31.5	13.1	5.7	2.8	—	—	—	10.9	5.2	.482	—	—	—	3.4	2.7	.787
Don Nelson	SF	32	72	—	19.8	10.8	4.4	1.4	—	—	—	9.0	4.3	.476	—	—	—	2.6	2.2	.846
Steve Kuberski	SF	25	78	—	9.8	4.4	2.5	0.3	—	—	—	4.4	1.8	.403	—	—	—	1.1	0.8	.774
Paul Westphal	SG	22	60	—	8.0	4.1	1.1	1.2	—	—	—	3.5	1.5	.420	—	—	—	1.4	1.1	.779
Art Williams	PG	33	81	—	12.0	3.2	2.2	2.9	—	—	—	3.2	1.4	.421	—	—	—	0.7	0.5	.768
Hank Finkel	C	30	76	—	6.5	2.4	2.0	0.3	—	—	—	2.3	1.0	.451	—	—	—	0.7	0.4	.538
Tom Sanders	SF	34	59	—	7.2	2.0	1.5	0.5	—	—	—	2.5	0.8	.315	—	—	—	0.6	0.4	.657
Mark Minor	SF	22	4	—	5.0	1.3	1.0	0.5	—	—	—	1.0	0.3	.250	—	—	—	1.0	0.8	.750
Totals			82		240.6	112.7	58.6	28.3				103.8	46.5	.448				25.3	19.7	.780

Playoff Per Game

NAME	POS	AGE	G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	FGA	FGM	FG%	FTA	FTM	FT%
Jo Jo White	PG	26	13	44.8	24.5	4.2	6.4	23.1	10.4	.450	4.2	3.8	.907
John Havlicek	SF	32	12	39.9	23.8	5.2	5.4	19.6	9.3	.477	6.2	5.1	.824
Dave Cowens	C	24	13	46.0	21.9	16.6	3.7	21.0	9.9	.473	3.2	2.1	.659
Don Nelson	SF	32	13	23.3	11.0	2.9	1.2	7.8	3.6	.465	4.3	3.8	.875
Paul Silas	PF	29	13	39.4	9.6	15.1	3.0	9.2	3.6	.392	3.8	2.4	.620
Don Chaney	SG	26	12	24.0	7.5	3.3	2.1	6.8	3.3	.476	1.4	1.0	.706
Art Williams	PG	33	10	15.6	4.8	2.7	4.1	4.7	2.1	.447	0.8	0.6	.750
Paul Westphal	SG	22	11	9.9	3.9	0.6	0.8	3.5	1.7	.487	0.6	0.5	.714
Steve Kuberski	SF	25	12	7.9	3.8	1.2	0.3	3.8	1.6	.413	0.8	0.6	.700
Tom Sanders	SF	34	5	4.8	2.0	1.0	0.2	1.8	1.0	.556	0.4	0.0	.000
Hank Finkel	C	30	7	3.3	1.7	0.9	0.4	1.3	0.9	.667	0.0	0.0
Totals			13	243.8	108.1	51.2	25.5	97.0	44.5	.459	24.5	19.0	.774

Regular Season Per 36 Minutes

NAME	POS	AGE	G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	FGA	FGM	FG%	FTA	FTM	FT%
John Havlicek	SF	32	80	42.1	20.3	6.1	5.7	18.2	8.2	.450	4.6	4.0	.858
Don Nelson	SF	32	72	19.8	19.6	8.0	2.6	16.4	7.8	.476	4.7	4.0	.846
Paul Westphal	SG	22	60	8.0	18.3	5.0	5.2	15.8	6.6	.420	6.4	5.0	.779
Jo Jo White	PG	26	82	39.6	17.9	4.6	5.5	18.4	7.9	.431	2.5	2.0	.781
Dave Cowens	C	24	82	41.8	17.7	14.0	3.5	17.2	7.8	.452	2.8	2.1	.779
Steve Kuberski	SF	25	78	9.8	16.3	9.3	1.2	16.4	6.6	.403	4.0	3.1	.774
Don Chaney	SG	26	79	31.5	15.0	6.5	3.2	12.4	6.0	.482	3.9	3.0	.787
Paul Silas	PF	29	80	32.7	14.7	14.3	3.5	11.7	5.5	.470	5.2	3.7	.700
Hank Finkel	C	30	76	6.5	13.4	11.0	1.9	12.6	5.7	.451	3.8	2.0	.538
Tom Sanders	SF	34	59	7.2	10.0	7.5	2.3	12.7	4.0	.315	3.0	2.0	.657
Art Williams	PG	33	81	12.0	9.7	6.7	8.7	9.6	4.1	.421	2.1	1.6	.768
Mark Minor	SF	22	4	5.0	9.0	7.2	3.6	7.2	1.8	.250	7.2	5.4	.750
Totals

Playoff Per 36 Minutes

NAME	POS	AGE	G	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	FGA	FGM	FG%	FTA	FTM	FT%
John Havlicek	SF	32	12	39.9	21.4	4.7	4.9	17.7	8.4	.477	5.6	4.6	.824
Jo Jo White	PG	26	13	44.8	19.7	3.3	5.1	18.5	8.3	.450	3.3	3.0	.907
Hank Finkel	C	30	7	3.3	18.8	9.4	4.7	14.1	9.4	.667	0.0	0.0
Dave Cowens	C	24	13	46.0	17.2	13.0	2.9	16.4	7.8	.473	2.5	1.6	.659
Steve Kuberski	SF	25	12	7.9	17.1	5.3	1.1	17.4	7.2	.413	3.8	2.7	.700
Don Nelson	SF	32	13	23.3	17.0	4.5	1.8	12.0	5.6	.465	6.7	5.8	.875
Tom Sanders	SF	34	5	4.8	15.0	7.5	1.5	13.5	7.5	.556	3.0	0.0	.000
Paul Westphal	SG	22	11	9.9	14.2	2.3	3.0	12.9	6.3	.487	2.3	1.7	.714
Don Chaney	SG	26	12	24.0	11.3	5.0	3.1	10.2	4.9	.476	2.1	1.5	.706
Art Williams	PG	33	10	15.6	11.1	6.2	9.5	10.8	4.8	.447	1.8	1.4	.750
Paul Silas	PF	29	13	39.4	8.8	13.8	2.7	8.4	3.3	.392	3.5	2.2	.620
Totals

Regular Season Totals

PLYR	POS	AGE	GP	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	FGA	FGM	FG%	FTA	FTM	FT%
John Havlicek	SF	32	80	3367	1902	567	529	1704	766	.450	431	370	.858
Dave Cowens	C	24	82	3425	1684	1329	333	1637	740	.452	262	204	.779
Jo Jo White	PG	26	82	3250	1612	414	498	1665	717	.431	228	178	.781
Paul Silas	PF	29	80	2618	1066	1039	251	851	400	.470	380	266	.700
Don Chaney	SG	26	79	2488	1038	449	221	859	414	.482	267	210	.787
Don Nelson	SF	32	72	1425	777	315	102	649	309	.476	188	159	.846
Steve Kuberski	SF	25	78	762	345	197	26	347	140	.403	84	65	.774
Art Williams	PG	33	81	974	263	182	236	261	110	.421	56	43	.768
Paul Westphal	SG	22	60	482	245	67	69	212	89	.420	86	67	.779
Hank Finkel	C	30	76	496	184	151	26	173	78	.451	52	28	.538
Tom Sanders	SF	34	59	423	117	88	27	149	47	.315	35	23	.657
Mark Minor	SF	22	4	20	5	4	2	4	1	.250	4	3	.750
Totals			82	19730	9238	4802	2320	8511	3811	.448	2073	1616	.780

Playoff Totals

PLYR	POS	AGE	GP	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	FGA	FGM	FG%	FTA	FTM	FT%
Jo Jo White	PG	26	13	583	319	54	83	300	135	.450	54	49	.907
Dave Cowens	C	24	13	598	285	216	48	273	129	.473	41	27	.659
John Havlicek	SF	32	12	479	285	62	65	235	112	.477	74	61	.824
Don Nelson	SF	32	13	303	143	38	15	101	47	.465	56	49	.875
Paul Silas	PF	29	13	512	125	196	39	120	47	.392	50	31	.620
Don Chaney	SG	26	12	288	90	40	25	82	39	.476	17	12	.706
Art Williams	PG	33	10	156	48	27	41	47	21	.447	8	6	.750
Steve Kuberski	SF	25	12	95	45	14	3	46	19	.413	10	7	.700
Paul Westphal	SG	22	11	109	43	7	9	39	19	.487	7	5	.714
Hank Finkel	C	30	7	23	12	6	3	9	6	.667	0	0
Tom Sanders	SF	34	5	24	10	5	1	9	5	.556	2	0	.000
Totals			13	3170	1405	665	332	1261	579	.459	319	247	.774

HeatingUp Impact Index: Team Impact Spotlight

Player Name	Role Tier	MPG	Usage Tier	PPG	RPG	APG	STK	Impact Index*	Notes (with Sources)	Awards
John Havlicek	Primary Wing Creator / Two‑Way Scorer	42.1	High	23.8	7.1	6.6	1.7	19.60	Team’s leading scorer who drove offense both by scoring and creating; played heavy minutes and was known for relentless activity on both ends, blending scoring with elite playmaking and defense.	MVP‑5, All‑Star, All‑NBA, All‑Defensive
Dave Cowens	Interior Engine / Rebounding Powerhouse	41.8	High	20.5	16.2	4.1	1.3	20.05	Undersized but ferocious center who anchored rebounding and interior defense; his league MVP season came as he paced a Celtics team with the best regular‑season record in the NBA.	MVP‑1, All‑Star, All‑NBA
Jo Jo White	Lead Ball Handler / Secondary Scorer	39.6	High	19.7	5.0	6.1	1.3	16.05	Steady point guard who balanced scoring and creation; often tasked with late‑clock decisions and clutch execution, complementing Havlicek & Cowens in half‑court sets.	All‑Star
Paul Silas	Rebounding & Defensive Power Forward	32.7	Medium	13.3	13.0	3.1	1.0	15.20	Physical rebounder and defensive anchor in the frontcourt; his work on the boards and physical play enabled offensive stars to operate with freedom.	All‑Defensive
Don Chaney	Perimeter Defender / Role Scorer	31.5	Medium	13.1	5.7	2.8	1.8	11.70	Known for his defensive discipline and activity; provided toughness on opposing wings while chipping in reliable scoring when needed.	All‑Defensive
Don Nelson	Efficient Secondary Wing Offense	19.8	Medium	10.8	4.4	1.4	0.4	8.50	Veteran role forward who provided scoring efficiency and spacing; not a primary creator but valuable in sustaining offense when starters rested.	—
Art Williams	Spot Ball Handler / Depth Guard	12.0	Low	3.2	2.2	2.9	0.7	4.05	Bench guard tasked with spot distribution and ball movement; his limited minutes but assist activity reflect a backup facilitator role.	—
Steve Kuberski	Reserve Forward / Role Contributor	9.8	Low	4.4	2.5	0.3	0.1	3.65	Limited role forward who provided energy and size in short bursts; not a focal point of offense or defense.	—
Paul Westphal	Reserve Shooting Wing	8.0	Low	4.1	1.1	1.2	0.9	3.65	Young guard/wing with scoring instincts in limited minutes; a developing depth piece with occasional offensive contributions.	—
Hank Finkel	Spot Big / Interior Depth	6.5	Low	2.4	2.0	0.3	0.2	2.45	Deep reserve center whose role was limited to interior matchups and situational minutes.	—
Tom Sanders	Veteran Depth Wing	7.2	Low	2.0	1.5	0.5	0.5	2.25	Long‑time defensive specialist providing situational minutes; known for hustle and positioning though production was modest.	—
Mark Minor	Brief Reserve Stint	5.0	Low	1.3	1.0	0.5	0.5	1.65	Appeared only a handful of games with minimal impact; depth option from bench.	—