The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Knicks in the Finals championship.
1971–72 NBA season . The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship , beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals . Los Angeles Lakers . In 1968 , the Lakers acquired four-time NBA Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) Wilt Chamberlain to play center , and after losing in the Finals in 1969 and 1970 , they won their sixth NBA title -- and first in Los Angeles -- in 1972 , led by new head coach Bill Sharman .