1976 NBA Finals
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| Dates | May 23 – June 6 | ||||||||||
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| MVP |
Jo Jo White (Boston Celtics) |
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| Television | CBS (U.S.) | ||||||||||
| Announcers | Brent Musburger, Mendy Rudolph, Sonny Hill, and Rick Barry | ||||||||||
| Radio network | WBZ-AM (Boston), KTAR (Phoenix) | ||||||||||
| Announcers | Johnny Most (Celtics), Al McCoy (Suns) | ||||||||||
| Referees | |||||||||||
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| Hall of Famers |
Celtics: Dave Cowens (1991) John Havlicek (1984) Don Nelson (2012, coach) Jo Jo White (2015) Suns: Pat Riley (2008, coach) Coaches: Tom Heinsohn (1986, player/2015, coach) Officials: Darell Garretson (2016) Earl Strom (1995) Announcers: Rick Barry (1987/Player) Mendy Rudolph (2007/Official) |
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| Eastern Finals | Celtics defeat Cavaliers, 4-2 | ||||||||||
| Western Finals | Suns defeat Warriors, 4-3 | ||||||||||
| Game 1: | Darell Garretson and Jake O'Donnell |
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| Game 2: | Earl Strom and Richie Powers |
| Game 4: | Don Murphy and Manny Sokol |
| Game 5: | Richie Powers and Don Murphy |
| Game 6: | Darell Garretson and Jake O'Donnell |
The 1976 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round for the 1975–76 NBA season.
The Phoenix Suns entered the NBA in the 1968–69 season. Prior to 1976, they only made the playoffs once, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 1970 NBA Playoffs. Before that the Suns lost a coin flip to the Milwaukee Bucks to determine the fate of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's new team prior to the 1969 NBA draft. Phoenix ultimately selected Neal Walk, who became a bust. The Suns redeemed themselves in the 1975 NBA draft by selecting Alvan Adams fourth overall.
With Adams fortifying the center position, and with new addition Paul Westphal and Dick Van Arsdale providing the scoring punch, the Suns reached the playoffs for only the second time, finishing with 42 wins. The Suns defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in six games of the conference semifinals, before achieving a major upset in dethroning the previous year's champions the Golden State Warriors in seven games. The Suns made it to their first NBA Finals.
The Boston Celtics were seeking to make up for the lost opportunity they squandered in the 1975 NBA Playoffs. That year, they finished with 60 wins, but lost to the Washington Bullets in the conference finals. They kept the core of the team that won the 1974 NBA Finals, but made some tweaks, such as the trade of Westphal to Phoenix for Charlie Scott. The Celtics won 54 games in the 1975–76 season, then defeated the Buffalo Braves and the "Miracle of Richfield" Cleveland Cavaliers in six games each to reach their 14th NBA Finals. Boston was seeking its 13th NBA title.
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