1975–76 Boston Celtics season

The 1975–76 Boston Celtics season was their 30th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and concluded with their 13th championship, defeating the Phoenix Suns in six games in the 1976 NBA Finals.

1975–76 Boston Celtics season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coachTom Heinsohn
General managerRed Auerbach
ArenaBoston Garden
Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record54–28 (.659)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Suns 4–2)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWBZ-TV, WATR
RadioWBZ Radio, WTIC

Offseason

Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College

Roster
Roster listing
1975–76 Boston Celtics roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (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
F 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

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 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 5428.659–31–1023–1813–8
x-Philadelphia 76ers 4636.561834–712–299–12
x-Buffalo Braves 4636.561828–1418–2210–11
New York Knicks 3844.4631624–1714–2710–11
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics5428.659–
2 y-Cleveland Cavaliers4933.5985
3 x-Washington Bullets4834.5856
4 x-Philadelphia 76ers4636.5618
5 x-Buffalo Braves4636.5618
6 Houston Rockets4042.48814
7 New York Knicks3844.46316
8 New Orleans Jazz3844.46316
9 Atlanta Hawks2953.35425

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 —2–32–32–22–51–32–22–52–21–32–22–43–22–30–42–21–31–5
Boston 3–2—4–32–23–24–02–24–12–24–02–24–15–24–34–02–22–23–2
Buffalo 3–23–4—3–13–21–31–33–24–02–23–14–14–33–43–12–22–22–3
Chicago 2–22–21–3—0–43–41–41–31–63–23–42–20–40–42–31–42–30–4
Cleveland 5–22–32–34–0—2–21–32–41–32–24–04–33–23–23–14–03–14–2
Detroit 3–10–43–14–32–2—0–52–25–21–43–41–33–11–31–42–33–22–2
Golden State 2–22–23–14–13–15–0—2–24–15–25–02–24–03–14–24–24–33–1
Houston 5–21–42–33–14–22–22–2—2–21–32–22–43–23–20–43–12–23–4
Kansas City 2–22–20–46–13–12–51–42–2—2–32–51–31–31–33–20–52–31–3
Los Angeles 3–10–42–22–32–24–12–53–13–2—2–33–13–12–22–43–43–31–3
Milwaukee 2–22–21–34–30–44–30–52–25–23–2—2–22–22–23–22–32–32–2
New Orleans 4–21–41–42–23–43–12–24–23–11–32–2—2–31–41–33–11–34–3
New York 2–32–53–44–02–31–30–42–33–11–32–23–2—5–22–23–10–43–2
Philadelphia 3–23–44–34–02–33–11–32–33–12–22–24–12–5—3–14–02–22–3
Phoenix 4–00–41–33–21–34–12–44–02–34–22–33–12–21–3—5–24–30–4
Portland 2–22–22–24–10–43–22–41–35–04–33–21–31–30–42–5—3–32–2
Seattle 3–12–22–23–21–32–33–42–23–23–33–23–14–02–23–43–3—1–3
Washington 5–12–33–24–02–42–21–34–33–13–12–23–42–33–24–02–23–1—

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

  • Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 107, Buffalo 98
  • Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 101, Buffalo 96
  • Game 3 @ Buffalo: Buffalo 98, Boston 93
  • Game 4 @ Buffalo: Buffalo 124, Boston 122
  • Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 99, Buffalo 88
  • Game 6 @ Buffalo: Boston 104, Buffalo 100

East Conference Finals

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

  • Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 111, Cleveland 99
  • Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 94, Cleveland 89
  • Game 3 @ Cleveland: Cleveland 83, Boston 78
  • Game 4 @ Cleveland: Cleveland 106, Boston 87
  • Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 99, Cleveland 94
  • Game 6 @ Cleveland: Boston 94, Cleveland 87

NBA Finals

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

  • Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 98, Phoenix 87
  • Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 105, Phoenix 90
  • Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 105, Boston 98
  • Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 109, Boston 107
  • Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 128, Phoenix 126 (3OT)
  • Game 6 @ Phoenix: Boston 87, Phoenix 80

References
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