This season began in the wake of the remarkable victory of the Los Angeles Lakers, who ended an agonizing decade of runner-up finishes with their first NBA title on the West Coast.
The '71–'72 title had come after a tremendous Western Conference Finals with Milwaukee and their superstar center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the former title-winning Lew Alcindor.
Cowens was the team's anchor at center, third in the league in both rebounds and minutes played while scoring 20.5 points per game.
A physical, active defender as well, Cowens made NBA observers marvel at his energy level and intensity.
Along with Cowens up front, Boston had tabbed Paul Silas from Phoenix to take the load off of "Hondo" inside.
In the East, Boston drew an Atlanta team with 46 wins, led by high scorers Lou Hudson and Pete Maravich, who scored 29.7 and 26.2 points per game respectively.
Baltimore had added big man Elvin Hayes to help Wes Unseld on the boards and Archie Clark in the scoring column.
The Knicks, with three key big men well past age 30, were supporting All-NBA guard Walt Frazier this year in hopes of one last shot at the top themselves.
But both teams were showing some gray streaks as West, Chamberlain, and Oscar Robertson, all all-time greats, were each clearly approaching the end of remarkable careers.
Nate Thurmond wanted to prove he could defend the league's best center and he surely did, dropping Abdul-Jabbar's scoring by eight points and shooting by 12% in the series.
Rick Barry had finally rejoined his NBA team from five years ago also, and Clyde Lee starred as well helping Thurmond to a 4–2 series win that wasn't really very close.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles was resting, having used three 20-point scorers and Chamberlain's dominance inside to brush off Golden State 4–1.
The NBA had their third New York – Los Angeles matchup in four years, which marked this remarkable period in media attention.
Thick Willis Reed, sore knees and all, had been kept fresh for the playoffs thanks to Jerry Lucas, primarily a center once again.
Neither were great shot blockers but both were smart, tough and unselfish, a trait also shared by forward Dave DeBusschere, who was still a very key part of the Knicks success.
Chamberlain chose not to shoot again, scoring just 10.4 per game in the playoffs for another enigmatic performance that again gave his opponents their opening.