1975–76 Boston Celtics season

1975–76 Boston Celtics season
NBA Champions
Head coach Tom Heinsohn
General manager Red Auerbach
Arena Boston Garden
Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record 54–28 (.659)
Place Division: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish NBA Champions

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television WBZ-TV, WATR
Radio WBZ Radio, WTIC

The 1975–76 Boston Celtics season was their 30th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and concluded with their 13th championship.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College

Roster

1975–76 Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
G 42 Anderson, Jerome 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1953-10-09 West Virginia
C 34 Ard, Jim 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1948-09-19 Cincinnati
F 31 Boswell, Tom 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1953-10-02 South Carolina
C 18 Cowens, Dave 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1948-10-25 Florida State
F 17 Havlicek, John 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1940-04-08 Ohio State
C 33 Kuberski, Steve 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1947-11-06 Bradley
F 30 McDonald, Glenn 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1952-03-18 Long Beach State
F 19 Nelson, Don 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1940-05-15 Iowa
G 11 Scott, Charlie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1948-12-15 North Carolina
F 32 Searcy, Ed 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1952-04-17 St. John's
F 35 Silas, Paul 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1943-07-12 Creighton
G 27 Stacom, Kevin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1951-09-04 Providence
G 10 White, Jo Jo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1946-11-16 Kansas
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Dave Cowens Jim Ard
PF Paul Silas Steve Kuberski Tom Boswell
SF John Havlicek Don Nelson Sam Quinn
SG Charlie Scott Glenn McDonald Jerome Anderson
PG Jo Jo White Kevin Stacom

Regular season and postseason recap

The Celtics lost Don Chaney to the American Basketball Association before the 1975–76 season. To fill the gap in the backcourt they traded Paul Westphal to the Phoenix Suns for Charlie Scott, who had averaged more than 20 points in each of the previous three seasons. Despite an uncharacteristically weak bench, the Celtics finished in first place in their division and the second best record in the NBA this season. Boston earned a shot at another NBA title by defeating the Buffalo Braves and then the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs.

Boston's opponents in the 1976 NBA Finals were the Phoenix Suns, who had posted a 42–40 regular-season record. The Team in Green was the oddsmakers' choice in the contest. The Celtics took the first two games at Boston Garden, but the Suns came back to win games 3 and 4 on their home court. Game 5 ranks among the all-time thrillers in NBA history. The Suns trailed by 5 points with less than a minute left on the clock, but Westphal made up the deficit almost single-handedly, sending the game into a first overtime period, which ended in a tie.

John Havlicek's basket with 2 seconds remaining in double overtime gave the Celtics a one-point lead, which Boston stretched to two points after sinking a technical foul. Then the Suns' Garfield Heard hit a last-second basket to send the contest into a third overtime. The longest game in NBA history finally ended, after three extra periods, with the Celtics winning 128–126. Two days later Boston captured yet another NBA championship, the 13th in franchise history.

Season standings

Atlantic Division
Team W L PCT. GB
Boston Celtics C 54 28 .659 -
Buffalo Braves 46 36 .561 8
Philadelphia 76ers 46 36 .561 8
New York Knicks 38 44 .463 16

[1]

Record vs. opponents

1975–76 NBA records
Team ATL BOS BUF CHI CLE DET GSW HOU KCK LAL MIL NOJ NYK PHI PHO POR SEA WAS
Atlanta — 2–3 2–3 2–2 2–5 1–3 2–2 2–5 2–2 1–3 2–2 2–4 3–2 2–3 0–4 2–2 1–3 1–5
Boston 3–2 — 4–3 2–2 3–2 4–0 2–2 4–1 2–2 4–0 2–2 4–1 5–2 4–3 4–0 2–2 2–2 3–2
Buffalo 3–2 3–4 — 3–1 3–2 1–3 1–3 3–2 4–0 2–2 3–1 4–1 4–3 3–4 3–1 2–2 2–2 2–3
Chicago 2–2 2–2 1–3 — 0–4 3–4 1–4 1–3 1–6 3–2 3–4 2–2 0–4 0–4 2–3 1–4 2–3 0–4
Cleveland 5–2 2–3 2–3 4–0 — 2–2 1–3 2–4 1–3 2–2 4–0 4–3 3–2 3–2 3–1 4–0 3–1 4–2
Detroit 3–1 0–4 3–1 4–3 2–2 — 0–5 2–2 5–2 1–4 3–4 1–3 3–1 1–3 1–4 2–3 3–2 2–2
Golden State 2–2 2–2 3–1 4–1 3–1 5–0 — 2–2 4–1 5–2 5–0 2–2 4–0 3–1 4–2 4–2 4–3 3–1
Houston 5–2 1–4 2–3 3–1 4–2 2–2 2–2 — 2–2 1–3 2–2 2–4 3–2 3–2 0–4 3–1 2–2 3–4
Kansas City 2–2 2–2 0–4 6–1 3–1 2–5 1–4 2–2 — 2–3 2–5 1–3 1–3 1–3 3–2 0–5 2–3 1–3
Los Angeles 3–1 0–4 2–2 2–3 2–2 4–1 2–5 3–1 3–2 — 2–3 3–1 3–1 2–2 2–4 3–4 3–3 1–3
Milwaukee 2–2 2–2 1–3 4–3 0–4 4–3 0–5 2–2 5–2 3–2 — 2–2 2–2 2–2 3–2 2–3 2–3 2–2
New Orleans 4–2 1–4 1–4 2–2 3–4 3–1 2–2 4–2 3–1 1–3 2–2 — 2–3 1–4 1–3 3–1 1–3 4–3
New York 2–3 2–5 3–4 4–0 2–3 1–3 0–4 2–3 3–1 1–3 2–2 3–2 — 5–2 2–2 3–1 0–4 3–2
Philadelphia 3–2 3–4 4–3 4–0 2–3 3–1 1–3 2–3 3–1 2–2 2–2 4–1 2–5 — 3–1 4–0 2–2 2–3
Phoenix 4–0 0–4 1–3 3–2 1–3 4–1 2–4 4–0 2–3 4–2 2–3 3–1 2–2 1–3 — 5–2 4–3 0–4
Portland 2–2 2–2 2–2 4–1 0–4 3–2 2–4 1–3 5–0 4–3 3–2 1–3 1–3 0–4 2–5 — 3–3 2–2
Seattle 3–1 2–2 2–2 3–2 1–3 2–3 3–4 2–2 3–2 3–3 3–2 3–1 4–0 2–2 3–4 3–3 — 1–3
Washington 5–1 2–3 3–2 4–0 2–4 2–2 1–3 4–3 3–1 3–1 2–2 3–4 2–3 3–2 4–0 2–2 3–1 —

Game log

1975–76 game log
October: 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–0)
November : 6–6 (Home: 3–3; Road: 3–3)
1975–76 schedule

Playoffs

East First Round

The Celtics had a first round bye.

East Conference Semifinals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Buffalo Braves: Celtics win series 4-2

East Conference Finals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Cleveland Cavaliers: Celtics win series 4-2

NBA Finals

(E1) Boston Celtics vs. (W3) Phoenix Suns: Celtics win series 4-2

References

  1. ↑ 1975–76 NBA season summary Basketball-Reference.com
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