1975–76 NBA season

1975–76 NBA season
1975–76 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 23, 1975 – April 11, 1976; April 13–May 18, 1976 (Playoffs); May 23–June 6, 1976 (Finals)
Number of games	82
Number of teams	18
TV partner(s)	CBS
Draft
Top draft pick	David Thompson
Picked by	Atlanta Hawks
Regular season
Top seed	Golden State Warriors
Season MVP	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers)
Top scorer	Bob McAdoo (Buffalo)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up	Cleveland Cavaliers
Western champions	Phoenix Suns
Western runners-up	Golden State Warriors
Finals
Champions	Boston Celtics
Runners-up	Phoenix Suns
Finals MVP	Jo Jo White (Boston)
NBA seasons
	← 1974–75 1976–77 →

The 1975–76 NBA season was the 30th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

Notable occurrences[]

Larry O'Brien begins his tenure as the league's third commissioner.
The 1976 NBA All-Star Game was played at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, with the Eastern Conference beating the Western Conference 123–109. Dave Bing of the Washington Bullets wins the game's MVP award.
The Kansas City-Omaha Kings are renamed the Kansas City Kings as they settle into a permanent home in Kansas City, Missouri.
The New Orleans Jazz moved into the cavernous Louisiana Superdome after splitting their inaugural season between two inadequate facilities, the Loyola University Fieldhouse and New Orleans Municipal Auditorium.
The Houston Rockets play their inaugural season in The Summit.
It was the final season for Don Nelson, Pat Riley and Jerry Sloan as players. Each would go on to coach more than 2,000 games in the NBA.
This was the final season before the NBA-ABA merger. In the 1976 offseason, four ABA teams joined the NBA: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and the reigning ABA champion New York Nets, who relocated to New Jersey.
Dick Bavetta began his Hall of Fame officiating career, replacing the retired Mendy Rudolph, who suffered a blood clot in his lung during a 1975 playoff game and became an analyst for CBS Sports. Bavetta went on to set the record for most games officiated with 2,635 by the time he retired in 2014.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named the league's Most Valuable Player despite his team missing the playoffs. He remains the only league MVP to miss the playoffs.
The NBA Finals were contested by the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. Phoenix was making their first finals appearance; Boston was making their fourteenth.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals was first game ever played in the month of June.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Suns went into triple-overtime before the Celtics prevailed 128-126. This was the first triple-overtime game in NBA finals history; the only triple-overtime finals game since occurred in 1993, in which the Phoenix Suns were again participating.

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team	1974–75 coach	1975–76 coach
N/A
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
Atlanta Hawks	Cotton Fitzsimmons	Bumper Tormohlen
Detroit Pistons	Ray Scott	Herb Brown

Final standings[]

By division[]

Atlantic Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	54	28	.659	–	31–10	23–18	13–8
x-Philadelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	8	34–7	12–29	9–12
x-Buffalo Braves	46	36	.561	8	28–14	18–22	10–11
New York Knicks	38	44	.463	16	24–17	14–27	10–11

Central Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Cleveland Cavaliers	49	33	.598	–	29–12	20–21	15–11
x-Washington Bullets	48	34	.585	1	31–10	17–24	14–12
Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	9	27–13	13–29	14–12
New Orleans Jazz	38	44	.463	11	22–19	16–25	15–11
Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	20	20–21	9–32	7–19

Midwest Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	–	22–19	16–25	13–8
x-Detroit Pistons	36	46	.439	2	24–17	12–29	12–9
Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	7	25–16	6–35	10–11
Chicago Bulls	24	58	.293	14	15–26	9–32	7–14

Pacific Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Division
y-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–	36–5	23–18	17–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16	31–10	12–29	12–14
x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17	27–14	15–26	15–11
Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19	31–11	9–31	10–16
Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22	25–15	12–30	11–15

By conference[]

#	Eastern Conference v t
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	54	28	.659	–
2	y-Cleveland Cavaliers	49	33	.598	5
3	x-Washington Bullets	48	34	.585	6
4	x-Philadelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	8
5	x-Buffalo Braves	46	36	.561	8

6	Houston Rockets	40	42	.488	14
7	New York Knicks	38	44	.463	16
8	New Orleans Jazz	38	44	.463	16
9	Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	25

#	Western Conference v t
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Golden State Warriors	59	23	.720	–
2	x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	16
3	x-Phoenix Suns	42	40	.512	17
4	y-Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	21
5	x-Detroit Pistons	36	46	.439	23

6	Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	19
7	Portland Trail Blazers	37	45	.451	22
8	Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	28
9	Chicago Bulls	24	58	.293	35

Notes

z, y – division champions
x – clinched playoff spot

Playoffs[]

First Round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

NBA Finals

E4

Philadelphia

1

E1

Boston*

4

E5

Buffalo

2

E5

Buffalo

2

E1

Boston*

4

Eastern Conference

E2

Cleveland*

2

E3

Washington

3

E2

Cleveland*

4

E1

Boston*

4

W3

Phoenix

2

W4

Milwaukee*

1

W1

Golden State*

4

W5

Detroit

2

W5

Detroit

2

W1

Golden State*

3

Western Conference

W3

Phoenix

4

W3

Phoenix

4

W2

Seattle

2

* Division winner
Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders[]


Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Bob McAdoo	Buffalo Braves	31.1
Rebounds per game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Los Angeles Lakers	16.9
Assists per game	Slick Watts	Seattle SuperSonics	8.1
Steals per game	Slick Watts	Seattle SuperSonics	3.18
Blocks per game	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Los Angeles Lakers	4.12
FG%	Wes Unseld	Washington Bullets	.561
FT%	Rick Barry	Golden State Warriors	.923