1975–76 Golden State Warriors season

The 1975–76 Golden State Warriors season was the 31st season of NBA basketball in Oakland, California Coming off their NBA Championship, the Warriors finished with a then-franchise-best 59–23 record.[1] The Warriors would however lose in the Western Conference finals to the upstart Phoenix Suns, four games to three. The Warriors’ franchise-best regular-season record would be surpassed when the team won the 2014–15 championship, but in between the Warriors would play thirty-eight seasons without even reaching the conference finals, the fourth-longest such drought in NBA history.

1975–76 Golden State Warriors season
Division champions
Head coachAl Attles
General managerDick Vertlieb
Owner(s)Franklin Mieuli
ArenaOakland Coliseum Arena
Results
Record59–23 (.720)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishConference finals
(lost to Suns 3–4)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTVU
RadioKNBR
< 1974–75 1976–77 >

Offseason

edit

Draft picks

edit
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 14 Joe Bryant F   United States La Salle
2 20 Gus Williams G   United States USC
3 40 Otis Johnson F   United States Stetson
3 51 Robert Hawkins G   United States Illinois State
4 69 Billy Taylor F   United States La Salle
5 87 Larry Pounds   United States Washington
6 105 Tony Styles   United States San Francisco
7 123 Stan Boyer F   United States Wyoming
8 141 Mike Rozenski   United States St. Mary's (CA)
9 157 Scott Trobbe   United States Stanford
10 171 Maurice Harper   United States St. Mary's (CA)

Roster

edit
1975–76 Golden State Warriors roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
SF 24 Barry, Rick 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1944-03-28 Miami (FL)
PF 42 Davis, Dwight 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1949-10-28 Houston
PF 40 Dickey, Derrek 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1951-03-20 Cincinnati
PG 15 Dudley, Charles 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1950-03-05 Washington
SG 12 Hawkins, Robert 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1954-06-30 Illinois State
PG 10 Johnson, Charles 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1949-03-31 California
C 52 Johnson, George 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1948-12-18 Dillard
SG 23 Mullins, Jeff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1942-03-18 Duke
C 44 Ray, Clifford 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1949-01-21 Oklahoma
SG 20 Smith, Phil 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1952-04-22 San Francisco
SF 41 Wilkes, Jamaal 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1953-05-02 UCLA
PG 1 Williams, Gus 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1953-10-10 USC
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  •   Injured

Roster
Last transaction: October 23, 1975

Regular season

edit

Season standings

edit
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
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
#
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

Record vs. opponents

edit
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

Playoffs

edit

In the playoffs, the Warriors returned to the Western Conference finals by beating the Detroit Pistons in 6 games. In the Western Finals, the Warriors faced the Phoenix Suns. The Warriors had a 2 games to 1 lead. Game 4 went in overtime and the Warriors were unable to grab a 3–1 series lead. The Suns would rally to win the game 133–129. The Warriors would bounce back to take Game 5, but the Suns would win Games 6 & 7 to stun the defending Champions.[1]


1976 playoff game log
Conference semifinals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
1 April 20 Detroit W 127–103 Phil Smith (26) Clifford Ray (12) Rick Barry (14) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067
1–0
2 April 22 Detroit L 111–123 Rick Barry (27) Clifford Ray (12) Rick Barry (8) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067
1–1
3 April 24 @ Detroit W 113–96 Phil Smith (34) Jamaal Wilkes (18) Rick Barry (10) Cobo Arena
10,022
2–1
4 April 26 @ Detroit L 102–106 Phil Smith (31) Clifford Ray (8) Rick Barry (6) Cobo Arena
11,389
2–2
5 April 28 Detroit W 128–109 Phil Smith (28) Clifford Ray (14) Rick Barry (11) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
13,067
3–2
6 April 30 @ Detroit W 118–116 (OT) Phil Smith (37) three players tied (8) Phil Smith (7) Cobo Arena
10,361
4–2
Conference finals: 3–4 (home: 2–2; road: 1–2)
1976 schedule

Awards and honors

edit

References

edit