In his October 9, 1973 NBA debut against the Houston Rockets, Ernie DiGregorio had 14 assists. DiGregrorio had 17 points but it was a 25-foot basket with two seconds left in overtime by McAdoo, who had 31 points and 21 rebounds, that earned the Braves a 107–105 victory. An October 30 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics gave the Braves a half game lead over the Celtics in the Atlantic Division with a 6–4 record. The Braves only won one of their next nine games. It came on November 14 when McAdoo set the franchise single game rebound record with 28 against the Atlanta Hawks. That night, he also scored 31 points for the fourth game in a row. Two weeks later on November 28, the Braves lost when Pete Maravich, who entered the game in the second quarter and posted 42 points off the bench, led the Atlanta Hawks over the Braves by 130–106.
