The 1973–74 American Basketball Association season saw the San Diego Conquistadors acquire Wilt Chamberlain as a player and coach, finish tied for fourth place in the ABA's Western Division, defeat the Denver Rockets in a one-game playoff for that spot and then bow out to the Utah Stars 4 games to 2 in the Western Division Semifinals.
The following night the Conquistadors played their home opener in front of 2,318 fans but lost to the Memphis Tams 118–113 in spite of Stew Johnson's 34 points.
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.
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 following night the Q's took their home court again, with only 1,422 in attendance, and eked out a narrow 102–101 victory against the Indiana Pacers to bring their season record to 6–8.
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.
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.
January 1974 saw the Conquistadors trade Red Robbins and Chuck Williams to the Kentucky Colonels for Jimmy O'Brien and a future draft choice.
The next evening saw a loss on the road at Denver; the Rockets prevailed 146–122 as Warren Jabali dished 19 assists in front of 6,183 spectators.
The next evening saw the Conquistadors lose a home game in front of 1,329 fans to the Carolina Cougars, 120–109; Mack Calvin scored 29 points and Caldwell Jones tied an ABA record with 12 blocked shots.
On January 9 the Q's dropped a 115–112 contest on the Utah Stars' home court; 5,784 were in attendance and Willie Wise scored 35 points.
On January 13 Bo Lamar scored a game-high 50 points as San Diego won on its home court 141–130 against the Indiana Pacers; attendance was 1,386 for the game.
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.
The next evening San Diego won its second road game in a row 125–108 against the Virginia Squires despite George Gervin's 27 points.
January 27 saw the Conquistadors lose a close one on their home court to the Kentucky Colonels 105–103; attendance had improved to 3,011 but Dan Issel's 34 points were too much to overcome.
The next evening the Q's lost in Salt Lake City 120–109 to the Utah Stars; 9,464 watched as Travis Grant scored 28 points.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
The Conquistadors and the Denver Rockets both finished the regular season with 37 wins and 47 losses and thus tied for fourth place in the Western Division.
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.