1975–76 Boston Celtics season

NBA basketball team season (NBA champions) August 2023 March 2026 Boston Celtics 1976 yes yes yes 54 28 Atlantic 1 1 Tom Heinsohn Red Auerbach Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center WBZ-TV, WATR WBZ Radio, WTIC NBA champions(Defeated Suns 4–2) BOS 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. This championship would be ranked 11th in the easiest paths to an NBA Finals championship by HoopsHype in 2024 due to the record of the team they played against in the championship match.Urbina Frank Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever HoopsHype 2024-06-17 https://hoopshype.com/lists/ranking-the-easiest-paths-to-an-nba-title-ever-championship/ 2025-03-19 Offseason Draft picks Round Pick Player Position Nationality College Roster Boston Celtics 1975–76 Jerome Anderson basketball 42 G 6 5 195 1953-10-09 West Virginia Jim Ard 34 C 6 8 215 1948-09-19 Cincinnati Tom Boswell basketball 31 F 6 9 220 1953-10-02 South Carolina Dave Cowens 18 C 6 9 230 1948-10-25 Florida State John Havlicek 17 F 6 5 203 1940-04-08 Ohio State Steve Kuberski 33 F 6 8 215 1947-11-06 Bradley Glenn McDonald basketball 30 F 6 6 190 1952-03-18 Long Beach State Don Nelson 19 F 6 6 210 1940-05-15 Iowa Charlie Scott basketball 11 G 6 5 175 1948-12-15 North Carolina Ed Searcy 32 F 6 6 210 1952-04-17 St. John's Paul Silas 35 F 6 7 220 1943-07-12 Creighton Kevin Stacom 27 G 6 3 185 1951-09-04 Providence Jo Jo White 10 G 6 3 190 1946-11-16 Kansas *Tom Heinsohn https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1976.html 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 BOS BOS Game log Boston Celtics 1976 Boston Celtics October yes 3 0 0 0 |- | 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 Boston Celtics November 3 3 3 3 |- | 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 BOS 1976 Playoffs Boston Celtics 1976 yes Boston Celtics #008040 white Conference Semifinals yes yes no 3 0 1 2 |- | 1 | April 21 | Buffalo | W 107–98 | Dave Cowens (30) | Dave Cowens (17) | Jo Jo White (8) | Boston Garden13,919 | 1–0 |- | 2 | April 23 | Buffalo | W 101–96 | Dave Cowens (27) | Dave Cowens (18) | Charlie Scott (6) | Boston Garden15,320 | 2–0 |- | 3 | April 25 | @ Buffalo | L 93–98 | Jo Jo White (26) | Dave Cowens (14) | Charlie Scott (7) | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium12,079 | 2–1 |- | 4 | April 28 | @ Buffalo | L 122–124 | Dave Cowens (29) | Dave Cowens (26) | Jo Jo White (11) | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium16,193 | 2–2 |- | 5 | April 30 | Buffalo | W 99–88 | Dave Cowens (30) | Paul Silas (22) | Jo Jo White (6) | Boston Garden15,320 | 3–2 |- | 6 | May 2 | @ Buffalo | W 104–100 | Jo Jo White (23) | Paul Silas (18) | Charlie Scott (8) | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium16,261 | 4–2 |- Boston Celtics #008040 white Conference Finals yes no 3 0 1 2 |- | 1 | May 5 | Cleveland | W 111–99 | John Havlicek (26) | Dave Cowens (12) | Dave Cowens (7) | Boston Garden14,264 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 9 | Cleveland | W 94–89 | Jo Jo White (24) | Paul Silas (19) | three players tied (4) | Boston Garden12,098 | 2–0 |- | 3 | May 11 | @ Cleveland | L 78–83 | Jo Jo White (22) | Paul Silas (21) | Jo Jo White (7) | Richfield Coliseum21,564 | 2–1 |- | 4 | May 14 | @ Cleveland | L 87–106 | Jo Jo White (23) | Dave Cowens (18) | Dave Cowens (4) | Richfield Coliseum21,564 | 2–2 |- | 5 | May 16 | Cleveland | W 99–94 | Dave Cowens (26) | Paul Silas (13) | Dave Cowens (6) | Boston Garden12,951 | 3–2 |- | 6 | May 18 | @ Cleveland | W 94–87 | Jo Jo White (29) | Dave Cowens (18) | White, Cowens (5) | Richfield Coliseum21,564 | 4–2 |- Boston Celtics #008040 white NBA Finals yes no 3 0 1 2 |- | 1 | May 23 | Phoenix | W 98–87 | Dave Cowens (25) | Dave Cowens (21) | Dave Cowens (10) | Boston Garden15,320 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 27 | Phoenix | W 105–90 | John Havlicek (23) | Paul Silas (17) | Jo Jo White (9) | Boston Garden15,320 | 2–0 |- | 3 | May 30 | @ Phoenix | L 98–105 | Jo Jo White (24) | Dave Cowens (17) | Charlie Scott (5) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,284 | 2–1 |- | 4 | June 2 | @ Phoenix | L 107–109 | Jo Jo White (25) | Paul Silas (14) | Jo Jo White (5) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,306 | 2–2 |- | 5 | June 4 | Phoenix | W 128–126 (3OT) | Jo Jo White (33) | Dave Cowens (19) | Jo Jo White (9) | Boston Garden15,320 | 3–2 |- | 6 | June 6 | @ Phoenix | W 87–80 | Charlie Scott (25) | Dave Cowens (17) | Jo Jo White (6) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,306 | 4–2 |- BOS yes 1976 References 2 Celtics on Database Basketball Celtics on Basketball Reference Category:Boston Celtics seasons Boston Celtics Category:Eastern Conference (NBA) championship seasons Category:NBA championship seasons Boston Celtics Boston Celtics Celtics Celtics