1975–76 Boston Celtics season

1975–76 Boston Celtics season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division 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 (Defeated Suns 4–2)
Stats at 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, defeating the Phoenix Suns in six games in the 1976 NBA Finals to win their 13th NBA Championship . The Celtics also won their division for the 5th consecutive season, and made their 14th finals appearance.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College

Roster

1975–76 Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB 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 Tom Heinsohn Legend (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	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

#	Eastern Conference
	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

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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 24 Houston W 109–94 Boston Garden 1–0 2 October 29 Golden State W 115–106 Boston Garden 2–0 3 October 31 Portland W 112–94 Boston Garden 3–0
November : 6–6 (home: 3–3; road: 3–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 November 1 @ Chicago L 82–84 Chicago Stadium 3–1 5 November 5 Buffalo W 105–95 Boston Garden 4–1 6 November 7 @ Milwaukee L 101–104 Dave Cowens (28) MECCA Arena 4–2 7 November 8 @ Detroit W 118–104 Cobo Arena 5–2 8 November 11 Atlanta L 91–100 Jo Jo White (24) Hartford Civic Center 5–3 9 November 13 @ Washington L 107–110 Capital Centre 5–4 10 November 14 Philadelphia L 109–119 Boston Garden 5–5 11 November 15 @ Buffalo W 112–110 Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 6–5 12 November 21 New York W 110–101 Boston Garden 7–5 13 November 23 @ Cleveland W 105–90 Richfield Coliseum 8–5 14 November 26 Seattle L 109–110 Boston Garden 8–6 15 November 28 Atlanta W 114–107 Boston Garden 9–6
1975–76 schedule

Playoffs

1976 playoff game log
Conference Semifinals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 21 Buffalo W 107–98 Dave Cowens (30) Dave Cowens (17) Jo Jo White (8) Boston Garden 13,919 1–0 2 April 23 Buffalo W 101–96 Dave Cowens (27) Dave Cowens (18) Charlie Scott (6) Boston Garden 15,320 2–0 3 April 25 @ Buffalo L 93–98 Jo Jo White (26) Dave Cowens (14) Charlie Scott (7) Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 12,079 2–1 4 April 28 @ Buffalo L 122–124 Dave Cowens (29) Dave Cowens (26) Jo Jo White (11) Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 16,193 2–2 5 April 30 Buffalo W 99–88 Dave Cowens (30) Paul Silas (22) Jo Jo White (6) Boston Garden 15,320 3–2 6 May 2 @ Buffalo W 104–100 Jo Jo White (23) Paul Silas (18) Charlie Scott (8) Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 16,261 4–2
Conference Finals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 5 Cleveland W 111–99 John Havlicek (26) Dave Cowens (12) Dave Cowens (7) Boston Garden 14,264 1–0 2 May 9 Cleveland W 94–89 Jo Jo White (24) Paul Silas (19) three players tied (4) Boston Garden 12,098 2–0 3 May 11 @ Cleveland L 78–83 Jo Jo White (22) Paul Silas (21) Jo Jo White (7) Richfield Coliseum 21,564 2–1 4 May 14 @ Cleveland L 87–106 Jo Jo White (23) Dave Cowens (18) Dave Cowens (4) Richfield Coliseum 21,564 2–2 5 May 16 Cleveland W 99–94 Dave Cowens (26) Paul Silas (13) Dave Cowens (6) Boston Garden 12,951 3–2 6 May 18 @ Cleveland W 94–87 Jo Jo White (29) Dave Cowens (18) White, Cowens (5) Richfield Coliseum 21,564 4–2
NBA Finals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 23 Phoenix W 98–87 Dave Cowens (25) Dave Cowens (21) Dave Cowens (10) Boston Garden 15,320 1–0 2 May 27 Phoenix W 105–90 John Havlicek (23) Paul Silas (17) Jo Jo White (9) Boston Garden 15,320 2–0 3 May 30 @ Phoenix L 98–105 Jo Jo White (24) Dave Cowens (17) Charlie Scott (5) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12,284 2–1 4 June 2 @ Phoenix L 107–109 Jo Jo White (25) Paul Silas (14) Jo Jo White (5) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,306 2–2 5 June 4 Phoenix W 128–126 (3OT) Jo Jo White (33) Dave Cowens (19) Jo Jo White (9) Boston Garden 15,320 3–2 6 June 6 @ Phoenix W 87–80 Charlie Scott (25) Dave Cowens (17) Jo Jo White (6) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,306 4–2
1976 schedule

References

• Celtics on Database Basketball
• Celtics on Basketball Reference