1976–77 Phoenix Suns season

Professional basketball season January 2011 March 2026 August 2023 Phoenix Suns 1977 34 48 Pacific 5 10 John MacLeod Jerry Colangelo Karl Eller, Don Pitt, Don Diamond, Bhavik Darji, Marvin Meyer, Richard L. Bloch Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Did not qualify PHO KTAR-TV KTAR The 1976–77 Phoenix Suns season was the ninth season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. With injuries limiting the team to only six games with a full roster, the Suns plummeted to the bottom of the Pacific division standings, missing the playoffs after appearing in the Finals just one season prior.http://www.nba.com/suns/history/00531601.html SUNS: 1976–77 nba.com/history 2012-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20120210024948/http://www.nba.com/suns/history/00531601.html 2012-02-10 dead The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Offseason NBA draft 1976 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 10 Ron Lee Guard United States Oregon 2 30 Al Fleming Forward United States Arizona 2 33 Raymond "Butch" Feher Guard United States Vanderbilt 3 45 Ira Terrell Forward United States Southern Methodist 4 62 Paul Miller Forward United States Oregon 5 79 Ralph Walker Guard United States Saint Mary's (CA) 6 97 Carl Brown Guard United States Eastern Kentucky 7 115 Brad Warble Forward United States Eastern Illinois 8 133 Tom DeBerry Guard United States Northern Arizona 9 150 John Irving Center United States Hofstra 10 166 Gary Jackson Forward United States Arizona State Roster Phoenix Suns 1976–77 #702F8B #FFFFFF #FB4417 #702F8B 33 Alvan Adams F/C 6 9 210 1954-07-19 Oklahoma 21 Dennis Awtrey C 6 10 235 1948-02-22 Santa Clara yes 14 Keith Erickson G/F 6 5 195 1944-04-19 UCLA 7 Butch Feher G 6 4 185 1954-05-19 Vanderbilt 24 Garfield Heard F 6 6 219 1948-05-03 Oklahoma yes 30 Ron Lee G 6 4 193 1952-11-02 Oregon 18 Curtis Perry F 6 7 220 1948-09-13 Missouri State yes 54 Dale Schlueter C 6 10 225 1945-11-12 Colorado State 40 Ricky Sobers G 6 3 198 1953-01-15 UNLV 32 Ira Terrell F 6 8 200 1954-06-19 Southern Methodist 5 Dick Van Arsdale G/F 6 5 210 1943-02-22 Indiana 4 Tom Van Arsdale G/F 6 5 202 1943-02-22 Indiana 44 Paul Westphal G 6 4 195 1950-11-30 USC John MacLeod (Bellarmine) Al Bianchi (Bowling Green State) Regular season Standings PHO PHO Game log Phoenix Suns 1977 #423189 #FF8800 26 15 8 33 Phoenix Suns October no yes yes yes #FF8800 #423189 0 0 1 4!!Streak |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | October 22 | @ New Orleans | L 98–111 | Alvan Adams (29) | Louisiana Superdome12,234 | 0–1 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | October 23 | @ Houston | L 126–129 | Alvan Adams (29) | The Summit6,385 | 0–2 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | October 27 | @ San Antonio | L 106–115 | Alvan Adams (24) | HemisFair Arena8,919 | 0–3 | L 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | October 29 | @ Chicago | W 95–82 | Gar Heard (23) | Chicago Stadium9,318 | 1–3 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | October 30 | @ Denver | L 107–113 | Gar Heard (28) | McNichols Sports Arena17,608 | 1–4 | L 1 |- Phoenix Suns November no yes yes #FF8800 #423189 5 2 0 3!!Streak |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | November 5 | @ Seattle | L 84–88 | Ricky Sobers (18) | Seattle Center Coliseum11,902 | 1–5 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | November 11 | Indiana | W 108–98 | Ricky Sobers,Paul Westphal (18) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,152 | 2–5 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 8 | November 13 | Cleveland | L 90–103 | Ricky Sobers (20) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,671 | 2–6 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 9 | November 17 | Milwaukee | W 103–95 | Dick Van Arsdale (19) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum7,017 | 3–6 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 10 | November 18 | @ Golden State | L 111–131 | Ricky Sobers (19) | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena9,965 | 3–7 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 11 | November 19 | N.Y. Nets | L 88–90 | Paul Westphal (17) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,506 | 3–8 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 12 | November 21 | Chicago | W 101–96 | Paul Westphal (26) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum7,589 | 4–8 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 13 | November 25 | Washington | W 104–98 | Paul Westphal (26) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,614 | 5–8 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 14 | November 27 | Seattle | W 119–107 | Paul Westphal (25) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,553 | 6–8 | W 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 15 | November 30 | @ Indiana | L 97–103 | Paul Westphal (27) | Market Square Arena8,581 | 6–9 | L 1 Phoenix Suns December no yes yes #FF8800 #423189 5 2 3 5!!Streak |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 16 | December 1 | @ N.Y. Nets | W 106–96 | Paul Westphal (23) | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum5,103 | 7–9 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 17 | December 3 | Portland | L 99–113 | Ricky Sobers (21) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum11,339 | 7–10 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 18 | December 5 | San Antonio | W 103–98 (OT) | Paul Westphal (27) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,235 | 8–10 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 19 | December 8 | Houston | W 116–95 | Paul Westphal (23) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,117 | 9–10 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 20 | December 10 | @ Boston | W 107–103 | Ricky Sobers (25) | Boston Garden12,878 | 10–10 | W 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 21 | December 11 | @ N.Y. Knicks | L 96–112 | Alvan Adams (17) | Madison Square Garden15,263 | 10–11 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 22 | December 12 | @ Atlanta | W 106–91 | Paul Westphal (28) | Omni Coliseum2,507 | 11–11 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 23 | December 14 | @ Buffalo | L 99–108 | Ricky Sobers (23) | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium7,132 | 11–12 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 24 | December 15 | @ Philadelphia | L 87–87 | Alvan Adams (27) | The Spectrum11,363 | 11–13 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 25 | December 17 | @ Los Angeles | L 105–118 | Ricky Sobers,Paul Westphal (25) | The Forum9,816 | 11–14 | L 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 26 | December 18 | Kansas City | L 90–89 | Ricky Sobers (21) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum9,482 | 11–15 | L 4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 27 | December 23 | Buffalo | W 107–92 | Ricky Sobers (28) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,834 | 12–15 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 28 | December 25 | Los Angeles | W 113–96 | Paul Westphal (25) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,274 | 13–15 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 29 | December 28 | @ Denver | L 102–110 | Paul Westphal (27) | McNichols Sports Arena17,595 | 13–16 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 30 | December 29 | Boston | W 97–87 | Paul Westphal (30) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,274 | 14–16 | W 1 Phoenix Suns January no yes yes #FF8800 #423189 7 1 1 8!!Streak |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 31 | January 2 | @ Kansas City | L 88–89 | Paul Westphal (20) | Omaha Civic Auditorium4,226 | 14–17 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 32 | January 4 | @ Milwaukee | L 111–139 | Curtis Perry,Ira Terrell (20) | MECCA Arena8,871 | 14–18 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 33 | January 5 | @ Detroit | L 115–118 | Alvan Adams (24) | Cobo Arena6,249 | 14–19 | L 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 34 | January 7 | @ Washington | L 89–99 | Paul Westphal (15) | Capital Centre6,072 | 14–20 | L 4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 35 | January 8 | @ N.Y. Knicks | L 95–102 | Paul Westphal (31) | Madison Square Garden18,589 | 14–21 | L 5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 36 | January 10 | @ Atlanta | W 93–92 | Paul Westphal (20) | Omni Coliseum2,408 | 15–21 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 37 | January 11 | @ Chicago | L 90–93 | Paul Westphal (31) | Chicago Stadium6,446 | 15–22 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 38 | January 13 | Detroit | W 131–101 | Paul Westphal (25) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,274 | 16–22 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 39 | January 15 | Cleveland | W 94–79 | Paul Westphal (24) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,274 | 17–22 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 40 | January 19 | N.Y. Knicks | W 97–90 | Paul Westphal (31) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,035 | 18–22 | W 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 41 | January 20 | @ Golden State | L 103–107 | Paul Westphal (25) | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena10,886 | 18–23 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 42 | January 21 | Indiana | W 125–96 | Alvan Adams (29) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,957 | 19–23 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 43 | January 23 | Seattle | W 98–88 | Paul Westphal (24) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,274 | 20–23 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 44 | January 25 | San Antonio | L 108–116 | Paul Westphal (24) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,814 | 20–24 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 45 | January 27 | Philadelphia | W 111–94 | Ron Lee (28) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,274 | 21–24 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 46 | January 29 | New Orleans | W 118–102 | Paul Westphal (26) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum13,274 | 22–24 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 47 | January 30 | @ Portland | L 91–97 | Paul Westphal (24) | Memorial Coliseum12,311 | 22–25 | L 1 Phoenix Suns February no yes yes #FF8800 #423189 3 4 1 5!!Streak |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 48 | February 2 | Milwaukee | W 130–113 | Paul Westphal (29) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum7,364 | 23–25 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 49 | February 4 | Golden State | L 106–109 | Alvan Adams (29) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,849 | 23–26 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 50 | February 6 | Denver | W 115–104 | Paul Westphal (32) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum11,826 | 24–26 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 51 | February 8 | Atlanta | W 117–104 | Alvan Adams (34) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum7,495 | 25–26 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 52 | February 10 | Washington | L 103–109 | Paul Westphal (29) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum11,352 | 25–27 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 53 | February 15 | @ Kansas City | L 96–102 | Paul Westphal (30) | Kemper Arena7,313 | 25–28 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 54 | February 16 | @ Indiana | L 93–111 | Ira Terrell (15) | Market Square Arena9,553 | 25–29 | L 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 55 | February 18 | @ Philadelphia | W 102–96 | Paul Westphal (22) | The Spectrum16,660 | 26–29 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 56 | February 19 | @ Cleveland | L 88–92 | Paul Westphal (23) | Coliseum at Richfield17,882 | 26–30 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 57 | February 20 | @ Detroit | L 107–109 | Ricky Sobers (25) | Cobo Arena7,233 | 26–31 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 58 | February 22 | @ Buffalo | L 114–115 | Alvan Adams (47) | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium6,143 | 26–32 | L 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 59 | February 24 | Houston | L 106–109 | Paul Westphal (31) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum9,835 | 26–33 | L 4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 60 | February 26 | Boston | L 104–108 | Paul Westphal (22) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,353 | 26–34 | L 5 Phoenix Suns March no yes yes #FF8800 #423189 2 5 2 7!!Streak |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 61 | March 2 | Chicago | L 104–108 (OT) | Paul Westphal (26) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,823 | 26–35 | L 6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 62 | March 4 | Golden State | L 87–101 | Alvan Adams (21) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,750 | 26–36 | L 7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffccc" | 63 | March 6 | @ Washington | L 110–118 | Ricky Sobers (32) | Capital Centre14,189 | 26–37 | L 8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 64 | March 8 | @ San Antonio | L 115–122 | Ricky Sobers,Paul Westphal (24) | HemisFair Arena10,011 | 26–38 | L 9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 65 | March 9 | @ Houston | L 100–105 | Alvan Adams (26) | The Summit6,421 | 26–39 | L 10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 66 | March 11 | @ N.Y. Nets | L 73–82 | Paul Westphal (16) | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum6,730 | 26–40 | L 11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 67 | March 13 | @ Boston | L 107–124 | Alvan Adams (29) | Boston Garden14,859 | 26–41 | L 12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 68 | March 16 | N.Y. Knicks | W 124–91 | Paul Westphal (23) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum9,177 | 27–41 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 69 | March 18 | New Orleans | L 100–104 | Paul Westphal (35) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum10,285 | 27–42 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 70 | March 20 | Portland | W 126–106 | Alvan Adams (27) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum7,174 | 28–42 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 71 | March 24 | Buffalo | L 102–107 | Paul Westphal (24) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,410 | 28–43 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 72 | March 25 | @ Los Angeles | L 93–118 | Ira Terrell (22) | The Forum13,507 | 28–44 | L 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 73 | March 26 | Los Angeles | L 102–109 | Alvan Adams (27) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,150 | 28–45 | L 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 74 | March 27 | @ Seattle | W 121–100 | Ron Lee (33) | Seattle Center Coliseum14,096 | 29–45 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 75 | March 29 | @ Milwaukee | W 122–110 | Paul Westphal (34) | MECCA Arena8,945 | 30–45 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 76 | March 30 | @ New Orleans | L 100–112 | Alvan Adams (19) | Louisiana Superdome6,237 | 30–46 | L 1 Phoenix Suns April no yes yes #FF8800 #423189 4 1 0 1!!Streak |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 77 | April 1 | Detroit | W 133–116 | Paul Westphal (40) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,506 | 31–46 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 78 | April 3 | Denver | L 109–124 | Ron Lee (28) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum7,501 | 31–47 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 79 | April 5 | Atlanta | W 108–102 | Ricky Sobers (25) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum7,668 | 32–47 | W 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 80 | April 7 | Kansas City | W 121–110 | Paul Westphal (30) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,462 | 33–47 | W 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 81 | April 8 | @ Portland | L 111–122 | Alvan Adams (26) | Memorial Coliseum12,536 | 33–48 | L 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 82 | April 10 | N.Y. Nets | W 128–104 | Ron Lee (21) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum8,476 | 34–48 | W 1 |- PHO 1977 Awards and honors All-Star Paul Westphal was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection. Westphal finished first in voting among Western Conference guards with 163,173 votes. Season Paul Westphal was named to the All-NBA First Team. Ron Lee was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Player statistics Legend   GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game Season Player GP GS MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Adams, Alvan Alvan Adams 72 67 31.6 .474 .754 9.1+ 4.5 1.3 1.2 18.0 Awtrey, Dennis Dennis Awtrey 72 26 24.4 .429 .722 4.9 2.5 .3 .4 5.7 Erickson, Keith Keith Erickson 50 3 19.0 .483 .740 2.9 2.1 .6 .1 6.4 Feher, Butch Butch Feher 48 9 10.1 .531+ .768 1.5 0.8 .2 .1 5.2 Heard, Garfield Garfield Heard 46 35 29.6 .379 .725 9.6+ 1.9 1.2 1.2 9.7 Lee, Ron Ron Lee 82 34 22.5 .441 .676 3.6 3.2 1.9 .4 10.2 Perry, Curtis Curtis Perry 44 42 31.6 .432 .789 9.0 1.8 1.1 .6 10.7 Schlueter, Dale Dale Schlueter 39 0 8.6 .361 .581 2.1 1.0 .2 .2 1.8 Sobers, Ricky Ricky Sobers 79 48 25.4 .496 .841 3.0 3.0 1.2 .2 13.6 Terrell, Ira Ira Terrell 78 36 22.4 .508 .631 5.0 1.3 .5 .6 8.5 Van Arsdale, Dick Dick Van Arsdale 78 3 19.7 .456 .873 1.5 1.5 .4 .1 7.7 Van Arsdale, Tom Tom Van Arsdale 77 28 18.5 .433 .703 2.4 0.9 .3 .0 5.8 Westphal, Paul Paul Westphal 81 79 32.1 .518+ .825 2.3 5.7 1.7 .3 21.3 + – Minimum 50 games played. Transactions Trades August 25, 1976 To Buffalo Braves 1977 second-round draft pick (USA Glenn Williams) Cash considerations To Phoenix Suns USA Tom Van Arsdale March 18, 1977 To Seattle SuperSonics 1979 second-round draft pick (USA Paul Mokeski) Cash considerations To Phoenix Suns Rights to USA Bayard Forrest Free agents Additions Date Player Contract Old Team September 23, 1976 Marv Roberts Undisclosed Virginia Squires (ABA) December 7, 1976 Dale Schlueter Undisclosed Buffalo Braves Subtractions Date Player Reason left New team August 26, 1976 John Wetzel Retired September 15, 1976 Paul Miller Waived (Retired) September 21, 1976 Pat Riley Retired October 3, 1976 Carl Brown Waived (Retired) October 4, 1976 Al Fleming Waived Indiana Pacers October 15, 1976 Marv Roberts Waived Los Angeles Lakers October 15, 1976 Nate Hawthorne Waived (Retired) October 15, 1976 Phil Lumpkin Waived (Retired) References 2 Category:Phoenix Suns seasons Phoenix