Despite finishing with a worse record than their previous 2 seasons, their 21–61 record was good enough for 3rd place. The Braves showed improvement under new Coach Jack Ramsay. Rookie center Bob McAdoo provided the silver lining by winning the Rookie of the Year Award with 18.0 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game.

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1
2

Roster

{| class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%; width: 100%;"
|-
! colspan="2" style="background-color: #E23B45; color: #FFFFFF; text-align: center;" | Buffalo Braves 1972-73 roster
|- style="background-color: #106BB4; color: #FFFFFF; text-align: center;"
! Players !! Coaches
|-
| valign="top" |
{| class="sortable" style="background:transparent; margin:0px; width:100%;"
! Pos. !! # !! Nat. !! Name !! Ht. !! Wt. !! From
|-

Season standings

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Atlantic Division
! Team !! W !! L !! PCT. !! GB
|-
| align="left" | Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...

  || 68 || 14 || .829 || -
|-
| align="left" | New York Knicks

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 C || 57 || 25 || .695 || 11
|-
| align="left" | Buffalo Braves

Buffalo Braves

The Buffalo Braves were a team in the National Basketball Association. They later moved to San Diego, California to become the San Diego Clippers then subsequently the Los Angeles Clippers....

 || 21 || 61 || .256 || 47
|-
| align="left" | Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...

|| 9 || 73 || .110 || 59
|}

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="16%" | Player
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="9%" | GP
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="9%" | MIN
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="9%" | FG
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="9%" | FT
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="9%" | REB
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="9%" | AST
! style="background:#106bb4; color:white" width="9%" | PTS
|- align="center"
| Bob McAdoo ||80 || 2562|| 585||271 ||728 ||139 ||1441
|- align="center"
| Elmore Smith|| || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|Bob Kauffman || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|Randy Smith || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|Dick Garrett || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|John Hummer || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|Dave Wohl || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|Fred Hilton || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
| Howard Komives|| || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|Bill Hewitt || || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|Mahdi Abdul-Rahman ||9 || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
| Harold Fox||10 || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
| Cornell Warner||4 || || || || || ||
|- align="center"
|}