1975–76 Cleveland Cavaliers season
Appearance
1975–76 Cleveland Cavaliers season | |
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Division champions | |
Head coach | Bill Fitch |
Arena | Coliseum at Richfield |
Results | |
Record | 49–33 (.598) |
Place | Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 2nd (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | East Conference Finals (eliminated 2–4) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Local media | |
Television | WEWS-TV |
Radio | WWWE |
The 1975–76 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the sixth season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This season marked their first winning record, their first playoffs appearances and their first conference finals in history. The season is referred to as the "Miracle at Richfield" season for this reason, and helped propel local interest in the Cavaliers as almost every playoff game was sold-out and regular game attendance would rise in the coming seasons.
Roster
Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Season standings
W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
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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 |
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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 | ||||||||||||||||||
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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 Total: 49–33 (Home: 29–12; Road: 20–21) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 1–2 (home: 1–1; road: 0–1)
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November: 6–9 (home: 1–5; road: 5–4)
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December: 11–4 (home: 6–1; road: 5–3)
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January: 9–6 (home: 7–2; road: 2–4)
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February: 9–2 (home: 5–0; road: 4–2)
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March: 9–7 (home: 6–2; road: 3–5)
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April: 4–3 (home: 3–1; road: 1–2)
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1975–76 schedule |
Playoffs
Games 5 and 7 were both won by the Cavaliers on last-second shots. Jim Cleamons hit a layup as time expired in Game 5 and Dick Snyder hit a shot with four seconds left to win Game 7.
Awards and records
- Bill Fitch, NBA Coach of the Year
- Jim Cleamons, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
- Jim Brewer, NBA All-Defensive Second Team